


Come In For A Coffee But Stay For The Staff

by pointnclickbait



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Iron Dad, M/M, Secret Relationship, coffee shop AU, except wanda and vision - Freeform, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:46:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 40,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22592737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pointnclickbait/pseuds/pointnclickbait
Summary: The everyday lives, loves and sometimes turmoil of the baristas Bruce, Thor, Steve and Clint.Why is Bruce hiding from science?How did Thor break his bed?Will Steve forever be in denial about his feelings for a certain customer?And why exactly does Clint create The Delusion Jar?(aka The Coffee Shop AU I never intended to write!)Each ship has their own set of chapters and can pretty much be read by themselves if you prefer one pairing over the others!
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Tony Stark, Clint Barton/Pietro Maximoff, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Peter Quill/Thor
Comments: 82
Kudos: 260





	1. Bruce

**Author's Note:**

> I love Coffee Shop AUs so much I had to try my hand at one. I also love these ships and there will also be one or two background pairings that pop up but they're not the main focus of the story. I'm having so much fun writing it and I hope whoever reads it likes it too! The fic will be updated weekly on Thursdays. Enjoy!

Bruce smiled at the customer as he handed her the overly complicated coffee. Thanks to his ability to memorize how to make all of the coffees they offered in just one day, and the skill to recreate them flawlessly on the first go, he was rarely stationed at the till. Fellow workers had been known to actually cheer when they saw they were on the same shift as him. Vision handed him a new cup with an order on it and he got to work. He took more time than he needed to as he could see that the name on the cup was Wanda. He shot a look over to the the till and smiled to himself when he saw the girl in question smiling up at Vision who was smiling back at her in some confusion. Bruce looked to his left when he heard a snort. Clint was working on another order and rolled his eyes when he noticed Bruce looking at him.

“Do you think he’ll ever realize that she’s flirting with him?”

“It’s only been a month, give him some time.”

The other man barked out a laugh and went back to the coffee he was making. Bruce shook his head in amusement. Vision was legendarily bad at reading people. Wanda was going to have to be a lot more obvious if she wanted to get through to him. She seemed like a sweet kid though. She was always smiling and pleasant to everyone. Bruce wished all their customers were like her. Coffee finished he made his way to the collection point and called out her name. She took her leave of Vision and headed towards Bruce. She offered him a smile as she collected her drink.

“Thank you Bruce.”

He returned her smile with one of his own.

“No problem.”

“What am I invisible or something?”

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide her grin.

“Hi Clint.”

He ducked over to where they were and slid a sandwich towards her.

“That’s on the house.”

Wanda tried to object but Clint was having none of it.

“You have finals coming up in a couple of days and knowing you you’ll bury your head in your books and forget to eat, so I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Wanda smiled at him gratefully and accepted the sandwich.

“Thank you Clint.”

He waved her thanks away.

“I’m just doing what anyone else would do.”

Vision called out to him for another order and he headed back to work after making Wanda promise to eat the entire sandwich. She smiled fondly at his retreating figure.

“He is a good man.”

Bruce couldn’t disagree. Clint would willingly lay down his life for the people he cared about. It made people loyal to him and had meant that he had had never ending support when his divorce was finalized recently. Bruce couldn’t help hoping he found someone again soon. He deserved it. Another order was called and he went back to work, leaving Wanda to head over to her usual table.  
The day went on as trouble free as usual until about midday. Vision was on his break and Clint was helping Scott with some emergency in the kitchen leaving Bruce to work the till and machines himself. He didn’t mind though, it was unusually quiet that day. The bell over the door went off signaling another customer. Bruce looked up from the book he was reading to greet them but the smile died on his face. Walking up to the counter while frowning at his phone was Tony Stark. The Tony Stark. At one point the man was technically one of his peers but they’d never met. As if someone like him would ever have moved in the same circle as Stark no matter how many PhDs he held. Stark was now in front of the counter but still glaring at his phone as he aggressively typed something out on it. Bruce waited for Stark to order something. And continued to wait. Eventually his temper flared at the rudeness.

“Do you actually want to order something or did you just walk in here by mistake?”

Tony started and looked up at Bruce with a frown.

“What?”

Bruce gestured around the shop.

“This is a coffee shop. People generally order something when they come in here.”

Stark looked amused at Bruce’s sarcasm and looked up at the menu board.

“Sure, why not? I’ll have a… black coffee. And make it a big one.”

Bruce told him the price and tried not to roll his eyes when Stark immediately went back to his phone when the exchange was done. He hummed to himself as he prepared the drink. It was simple so it didn’t take long. He went back to the till and held out the coffee to the man as there was no one else at the counter. Stark didn’t notice him holding out the drink. Bruce sighed to himself.

“I’’m sorry sir but your drink is ready.”

That got Stark’s attention.

“You could have just called my name you know.”

“You never gave me your name.”

Stark looked at him in bafflement.

“You don’t know who I am?”

Bruce swallowed a laugh. He didn’t think people ever actually said that in real life. He decided to have some fun.

“Of course I know who you are. You’re the guy that ordered this coffee, which I would really appreciate you taking now.”

Stark took the coffee from him, a look of confusion on his face. Then his eyes narrowed and he frowned at him.

“Do I know you from somewhere?”

“I doubt that, unless you’ve been here before.”

Stark was now staring him down with laser focus and Bruce was a little worried. There was no way Stark would remember him from the conference circuit right? He kept his face passive until Stark backed down. The man gave him a considering once over and took a sip of his drink.

“I’ll figure it out you know, I always do.”

He threw one last cock-sure smirk over his shoulder and left the building. Bruce let out a sigh of relief. At least he would never have to deal with Tony Stark again.


	2. Thor

One thing Thor could say about the night shift was that at least it was always quiet. The coffee shop was open 24/7 and he usually worked the night shift with Loki. The general consensus was that this was because there was no one else who would willingly work with Loki for an extended period of time and that the night shift offered less chances for the man to insult people. Thor didn’t mind, he’d always been a bit of a night owl himself. He only had one real problem with working the night shift.

“That’s a pained look on your face, are you feeling Thor?”

Thor tried to keep his smile in place and not make it obvious he was grinding his teeth. He apparently wasn’t doing much of a job hiding his displeasure if the smirk on the customer’s face was anything to go by.

“Quill, a pleasure as always. What will it be tonight?”

Peter Quill made a big show of reading the menu board as he rocked back on his heels with his hands in his pockets. Like he didn’t know the drinks options by heart now.

“I think I’ll have an Infinity Gauntlet tonight.”

Thor focused on not swearing out loud. It was one of the fiddiliest and time consuming coffees they had and Quill knew that. The little shit offered him a grin, knowing exactly how much of a pain in the ass he was being. Loki had disappeared to who knew where, possibly to ritually sacrifice one of the customers or something, so Thor had to make the drink himself.

“You can sit down and I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

“Oh that’s alright, I’ll just wait here.”

As soon as Thor turned to begin making the drink Quill began loudly whistling. Off key. Thor took a deep breath and did his best to block him out. The coffee took an agonizingly long time to make and Quill continued to whistle. The. Entire. Time. Eventually he was done and slammed the drink on the counter. He gave Quill another forced smile.

“Your drink is ready.”

Quill opened his mouth to say something, probably something obnoxious, but Thor was destined never to to find out what that was.

“Ah Paul, how wonderful to see you again.”

Quill glared and Thor’s smile became a lot more sincere.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve told you my name is Peter. Repeatedly.”

Loki smiled politely but there was mischief in his eyes.

“I’m sure you have, there’s just something so forgettable about..”

He trailed off and gestured at Quill in general. The man in question looked pissed and stepped closer to the counter.

“Listen you-”

He was cut off as a hand yanked him back. Gamora smiled at the baristas.

“Peter why don’t you just grab your coffee and join the rest of us.”

The way she said it left none of them in any doubt that it wasn’t actually a request but an order. Quill grabbed his drink and allowed himself to be guided towards the table with the rest of the band down the back. Thor smiled at Loki.

“Thank you brother.”

Loki waved him away disinterestedly.

“I merely enjoy annoying him.”

Thor knew Loki would never admit it, but when it became clear that Quill was deliberately trying to wind up Thor all the time he instantly found himself on Loki’s shit list. His younger brother made a big deal about not caring about anyone but he never stood for people taking advantage of his big brother.

“What I don’t understand is why the two of you hate each other so much.”

Thor shrugged and ran his hand across his short hair. Honestly, he had no idea how it had happened either. He vaguely remembers his first night working in the coffee shop. Quill and his band The Guardians had come in after a gig and he knows that Quill said something to him and that he said something in retaliation but he couldn’t recall for the life of him what it was. Whatever was said led to the battle lines being drawn and they had been at war with each other ever since. Loki and Quill’s band mates had originally tried to step in and stop anything from happening but when that proved fruitless they just let the two men get on with it, only stepping in when they thought things were going to get ugly. Or to stir the pot if it was Loki.  
Thor let out a sigh and turned his attention to wiping down the counter. The only positive was that Gamora always left a generous tip to make up for Quill’s shitty behavior. Thor and Loki usually used it towards some food after their shift ended. It would probably be easier to put up with the other man if he didn’t see him every night. Even if they weren’t playing a gig they were usually rehearsing late into the night and came to get a drink when they were done. Thor couldn’t help thinking that drinking highly caffinated drinks in the early hours of the morning couldn’t be very conducive to a good night’s sleep.  
The rest of the shift went smoothly with The Guardians leaving before his shift was over. Drax strong armed a scowling Quill out the door while Mantis waved cheerily before exiting. Gamora left the usual tip with the usual apologetic smile before following after them. Loki grabbed the money before Thor could even move towards it.

“Pizza tonight I think.”

Thor grinned as he finished tidying up before the next shift workers came in. Loki always gave the air of being a food snob but he’d walk over your corpse without a care for a greasy slice of Meat Feast pizza. They clocked out for the night and picked up their food on the way home. Thor let out a sigh of relief as their apartment door closed behind them. He couldn’t wait to get out of his work clothes and into bed. He threw his slices of pizza onto a plate and gestured to his room.

“I’m going to bed.”

Loki snorted.

“Of course. I forgot you’ll be up all night with your boyfriend.”

“You’re just jealous you don’t have anyone to talk to you all night.”

Thor grinned and ducked as the knife flew over his head. He quickly escaped into his room and threw off his clothes before crawling into bed with his food. He grabbed his phone and pulled up the local radio app. He put his earphones in and waited for the intro music to end. He didn’t have to wait long before a voice smoother than silk and pure sex started talking. Thor relaxed. This was the best part of his night. Whoever this guy was, he was amazing.

“Welcome to The 80s Hour. I’m your host Star Lord and I’ll be with you through the night.”


	3. Steve

Steve kept an eye on the time as he was serving customers. He always worked the till as he had a genuinely friendly demeanor and the customers all liked him. Clint liked to point out that it probably helped that he was easy on the eyes too. Steve had spluttered when he’d said this the first time while Scott laughed. He pointed out that Clint was good looking too. Clint had shrugged and pointed out that with his hairstyle and tattoo sleeve on display he wasn’t always everyone’s cup of tea. Or coffee as the case may be. Steve looked at the clock again. He had only been working there a few weeks but it was coming up to his favourite time of the day. He had thought that he was being subtle but the good natured ribbing he always received had put paid to that thought. There was a sudden influx of customers that kept him from noticing when the object of his anticipation walked in. He was already holding a cup and waiting for the order before he realized who was in front of him.

“What’ll it be today?”

“And here I thought you knew my order by now Stevey.”

Steve’s head shot up and he grinned at the other man.

“Bucky! Good to see you again.”

He wrote the order on the cup without asking again and Bucky already had the money waiting when he brought his attention back to the till. Steve rang up the order and gave him back his change. Bucky slipped it into the tip jar with a look of disappointment.

“Looks like you’re pretty busy today, guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah, sure Buck.”

Bucky moved to the pick up counter and Steve couldn’t let himself be disappointed for long as they really were busy. By the time the line was all dealt with Steve couldn’t think of any logical excuse to go over to where Bucky was sitting working on his laptop. He taught history at the local college. Steve had only met him when he started working in the coffee shop but they’d instantly clicked. He was pretty sure Bucky just thought of him as a friend but his die hard romantic side couldn’t help holding out for something more. His attention was pulled to movement by the pastry counter. Clint was plating up some food and a coffee on a tray. When he appeared satisfied he picked up his order and made his way into the seating area. Steve frowned. He couldn’t remember taking that order. He must be more on autopilot than he realized. Steve shook his head and looked away but turned around again fast when he heard a crash. Clint seemed to have tripped and dropped the tray’s contents all over the floor and one of the customers. Steve winced when he realized the victim was Bucky. He could see Clint making apologies before heading quickly back over to the counter. He dumped the tray to one side and tossed Steve a cloth and broom.

“Do me a favor and clean up the mess while I look after the till.”

Steve looked from the mess surrounding Bucky to the smirking Clint.

“I think I might love you Barton.”

“Don’t let your boyfriend hear you say that.”

Steve flushed and ducked his head as he made his way through the seating area. When he reached Bucky the other man was using a napkin to rub at the coffee stain on his white shirt. Steve winced in sympathy.

“I’m sure it’ll wash out.”

Bucky looked up in surprise and smiled when he saw Steve. Steve forced himself not to blush and started to sweep up the mess around the table.

“Sorry. Clint’s not usually that clumsy.”

“Hey it’s fine, he didn’t get my laptop and the coffee wasn’t that hot either.”

Steve could practically hear Clint saying ‘Like I’d give your boyfriend third degree burns’. He reminded himself to thank Clint later. Once he had swept up everything on the floor he took out the cloth and started to wipe down the table.

“So what are you working on at the moment?”

Bucky let out a groan and scrubbed a hand across his face.

“I’m trying to correct midterms. Their stupidity isn’t any reflection on my teaching right?”

“Well you are the teacher.”

Bucky looked at him in betrayal.

“Harsh Rogers, harsh.”

Steve laughed as he continued to find other areas of the table to wipe. It was a small table so there was only so much he could get away with. Bucky sighed again.

“You don’t understand my pain. One of my students asked me the other day if Rosetta Stone was the woman who refused to sit in the back of the bus.”

Steve looked confused for a second before realization dawned. He threw back his head and laughed. He tried to bring himself under control when he realized people were starting to look at him. He looked back at Bucky in delight and saw an expression on his face that he couldn’t decipher. It quickly disappeared and Bucky smiled again. Steve thought nothing of it and they continued to talk for another few moments before Steve had to admit defeat and headed back to the counter. He took his place at the till and tried to ignore the shit eating grin on Clint’s face.

“Just so you know, the two of you have to name your first child after me.”

Steve choked and turned fire engine red making the other man laugh. He was kept busy for the next hour so he could only smile and wave goodbye to Bucky when the man left. His next distraction came about thirty minutes later when there was a tap on the counter by the till. Steve smiled when he saw his friend standing there.

“Hey Sam, the usual?”

“Yeah man, you know I’m never going to try one of those unnecessarily fancy coffees.”

“I’ll have you know that’s my livelihood you’re attacking.”

Sam grinned as Steve filled out the order details on the cup.

“Order Clint!”

Clint reached out for the cup without saying hello. He did give Sam his undivided attention though when he saw the name on the cup.

“Unlucky Sam. You just missed Professor Dreamboat.”

Steve sighed as Sam looked put out.

“Aw man again? I’m never going to meet this guy am I?”

“Sure you will. As soon as Steve makes a move.”

“… I’m never going to meet this guy am I?”

“I hate the both of you.”

Clint cackled as he went to work on the drink and Sam grinned as he leaned on the counter.

“So how-”

“Hey Sam! Oh sorry, did I interrupt something?”

Sam straightened up and his smile got a little brighter.

“Not at all Tic-Tac.”

Scott sighed as he put the new treats under the glass.

“You’re never going to let me live that down are you?”

“Who needs to buy that many Tic-Tacs?!”

“I told you-”

Steve tuned them out as he shared a look with Clint. He mouthed ‘Am I that bad?’ and received an emphatic nod in return. He leaned against the counter and watched the interaction in amusement as he continued to be ignored. Suddenly Clint called out.

“Should I be smelling burning from the kitchen?”

Scott paled and ran back into the kitchen. Steve laughed at Sam.

“Why don’t you just ask him out?”

His friend blinked at him in confusion.

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh come on Sam, you’ve been dancing around Scott as long as I’ve been dancing around Bucky.”

Sam shook his head.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Not only is he older and has a daughter, but he’s also a man? And it may have escaped your notice but I’m straight.”

“So I’m imagining the flirting then?”

“Yes! And I’m in no way as bad as you.”

Sam’s coffee was dropped down in front of him and Clint gave him a deadpan look.

“You are exactly as bad as him.”

Sam glared at him in outrage while Steve laughed. It was always funny when it happened to someone else.


	4. Clint

Clint covered his mouth with a hand as he yawned. It was one of their quiet times of a quiet day and he’d offered to take over the till as they only had three customers who were busy doing their own thing. He smiled softly as he looked over to where Vision and Wanda were sitting and talking over a cup of coffee. Vision had slowly been beginning to realize that Wanda was interested in him romantically and Clint had been relieved to see that the interest was reciprocated. Wanda was a good kid and Vision was a good guy, they deserved a chance at this. He decided to check the stock around the room to kill some time. His back was turned to the door when the chime alerted him to another customer. He sighed and headed back to the till glad to have something to do. However when he turned around he realized there was no one at the till. He frowned in confusion and looked around the room.  
He froze and his mouth went dry when he saw the newcomer. He was a younger man with a shock of wavy blond hair and a very nicely built body. The only thing marring the image was the look of suspicion on his face as he looked around the shop. Suddenly the expression turned to an outright glare. Clint turned his head to see what had caused it and realized that the young man was heading towards Wanda and Vision.

“Wanda!”

Clint saw Wanda jump and her eyes widen when she saw the man.

“Pietro! What are you doing here?”

The young man, Pietro, was now standing at the table. He gave Vision a scathing look and turned his attention back to Wanda. When he started talking again it wasn’t in English. It took Clint a second to place it as Sokovian.

“ _So this is why you’ve suddenly grown to love coffee?_ ”

Wanda flushed.

“ _I don’t know what you’re talking about brother_.”

“ _How old is this man? You are spending less time with your friends and at home to get close to this, this_.”

He seemed to be struggling to find the right word to describe Vision who was sitting between the apparent siblings looking very confused. Clint was rapidly becoming pissed off.

“ _What I do with my time and who I spend it with is no concern of yours! You spend time with your friends all the time!_ ”

“ _But they are my age! And are you telling me you truly want nothing but friendship with this man?_ ”

Wanda flushed and ducked her head in embarrassment. Clint was officially done. He came out from behind the counter and strode over to the table the other customers were studiously ignoring.

“Hey kid, maybe take it down a little. Or just get out. Either is fine with me honestly.”

Pietro looked him up and down with a sneer on his face.

“ _Keep out of this old man, it has nothing to do with you_.”

“ _Then maybe don’t have this discussion in a public place you little shit_.”

Wanda and Pietro looked at Clint in shock.

“While you’re at it how about you treat your sister with a little respect?”

Pietro opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before straightening his spine and glaring at the older man.

“You have no right to tell me how to treat my sister _**old man**_.”

“Well then maybe you should respect your elders _**kid**_.”

Wanda was watching the interaction with wide eyes, clearly unsure about what to do. Pietro turned back to his sister.

“Come Wanda, we will go home.”

“I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have to do what you tell her to. In fact as she’s a customer and you’re just causing trouble she’s well within her rights to ask me to throw you out on your ass.”

Clint turned to Wanda with a smile.

“Is that something you’d be interested in because honestly it would be a genuine pleasure.”

Pietro was trying to burn a hole in Clint’s face with his eyes while Clint just smiled back at him blandly. Wanda bit her lip to hide a smile. Very few people ever gave Pietro the verbal slap down that Clint just had.

“No, thank you Clint. It is alright.”

She turned to her brother.

“Go home Pietro, I will see you there later.”

Pietro opened his mouth, most likely to argue, but Clint stepped into his space.

“I believe the lady told you to leave.”

Pietro threw a look of pure loathing at Clint but turned on his heel and stormed out of the shop. Clint looked back at Wanda in concern.

“You okay?”

Wanda smiled reassuringly.

“My brother means well. He does not trust older men and wishes to protect me as much as he can. He is a very passionate person.”

Clint snorted.

“He is that.”

He rapped his knuckles on the table with a smile.

“Well I better get back to my station. I’ll leave you to your… coffee.”

Wanda flushed again and glared at him without any heat. He just grinned back at her as he went back to the counter. When he got there he leaned against the counter next to the till and sneaked a look back over to the table. Vision was holding Wanda’s hand and looked concerned while Wanda blushed and smiled. Clint shook his head with a smile of his own. They both deserved to have a quiet coffee date without any interruptions. Clint decided then and there that he would be on Pietro Watch and would run interference if the brat showed up again trying to cause trouble. Wanda was a good kid and Vision was a good guy. They deserved a little happiness and he was happy to help them out. He’d just have to distract the kid if he came back again. As he remembered what he looked like his mind helpfully suggested all kinds of ways he could keep him distracted.  
Clint shook his head ruefully and decided to use more PG13 ways to keep him from causing trouble. And hey, if it came to it and the brat was willing, he could always keep those other scenarios in his pocket as a Plan B.


	5. Bruce

It had been a week since the first time Tony Stark had walked into the coffee shop and he been back every single day since. He had yet to figure out why Bruce was familiar and it was clearly becoming more and more frustrating every day. Bruce himself found the entire situation hilarious. He’d even heard from the other employees that Stark had asked them about Bruce, but since he had never told them about his previous work they were no help to him. The bell chimed as the door opened and Bruce smiled as Stark walked in and headed straight for the till. Bruce already had a cup with his name on it ready.

“Hello, what a surprise to see you here Mr. Stark. What can I get you?”

“First of all I told you to call me Tony, second of all if you don’t know my order by now it’s a very bad reflection on your skills as a barista.”

Bruce shot him a grin and scribbled the order on the cup. He passed it to Clint and saw the man bite his lip to hold in a laugh when he saw the name. Bruce turned his attention back to Tony who was now leaning his side against the counter with his arms crossed and a confused look on his face.

“How can I still not know where I know you from?”

“If you don’t know where you know me from by now it’s a very bad reflection on your status as a genius.”

Tony laughed with a delighted look on his face.

“Well played Bruce, well played. By the way what did you say your surname was again?”

“I don’t believe I did.”

Tony let out a sigh as Bruce smiled.

“It was worth a shot.”

Bruce simply shook his head with his smile still in place. Tony’s face softened.

“What would be the chances of you going out to dinner with me?”

Bruce stared at him in a mixture of confusion and shock.

“What?”

“I’d like to take you to dinner some time.”

Bruce was tempted, of course he was. Tony was witty, smart, and gorgeous. But the risk of being pulled back into the world of science, even in such a roundabout way, if Tony found out who he was caused panic to rise up in him. He reluctantly shook his head.

“I’m sorry, I don’t date customers.”

Tony smiled at him with a confidence that led Bruce to believe this wouldn’t be the only time Tony would ask him that question.

“Like I said, it was worth a shot.”

Just then Clint called out Tony’s order. He’d clearly been stalling to give them time to talk.

“Tony Stank? I’ve got an order for Tony Stank?”

Tony stared down the counter towards Clint in disbelief. Then he turned to stare at a suspiciously innocent looking Bruce. Tony snorted and a smile crept across his face.

“I think you might be my new favourite person Bruce.”

Bruce grinned as Tony picked up his order and left with a quick salute and smile to Bruce. Bruce was still grinning when Clint came to stand beside him.

“You do realize Tony Stark just asked you out right?”

“Oddly enough I am aware of that Clint.”

“I don’t get it. I mean he comes in here everyday to see you, he makes a point to talk to you as much as possible, and you smile and tease him like I’ve never seen you do with anyone else. I just don’t understand why you’d turn him down. Is it to do with the reason he thinks he knows you and why you told all of us not to let him know your surname?”

Bruce stiffened and Clint nodded.

“I thought that might be it. Don’t worry, I don’t care about your past. We should be judged by who we are now not who we were.”

He reached out and squeezed Bruce’s shoulder.

“Just remember you deserve a bit of fun every now and then.”

Bruce nodded and Clint clapped his hands.

“Right, Sage Master moment over, I’m going to go and convince Vision to stop texting Wanda and do some actual work.”

Bruce laughed.

“Just wait until you find yourself smitten with someone and we’ll see what you have to say then.”

“Really Bruce? Smitten?”

He just pushed Clint towards the kitchen telling him he thought that’s where he saw Vision last.  
Just as Bruce suspected whenever Tony called in over the next few days he always made sure to ask Bruce out to dinner. He was never pushy and never asked more than once per visit. Bruce had a feeling not many people said no to Tony Stark.  
Soon enough the high school’s mid-term break came along and more teenagers were invading the coffee shop. They weren’t exactly inundated with them as Starbucks had a stronger siren call effect on teenagers, but there were definitely a few more than usual. The Wednesday of the break came along and a new teenager walked into the shop. Bruce heard Clint sigh in annoyance. He didn’t blame him. Most of the teenagers that came in loved ordering complicated coffees. Some of them were just plain ridiculous if Bruce was honest. Plus Clint was on his own making the drinks as Bruce was covering the till for Vision who was on break. He picked up a cup and pen and waited for the boy to stop rummaging in his backpack.

“Hello, what can I get you today?”

“Oh right, sorry, yeah I’ll have-”

The boy’s sentence cut off when he looked up and found Bruce waiting expectantly. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.

“Oh my god. It’s you. It’s really you. You’re Dr. Bruce Banner!”

Bruce’s own eyes widened and he scanned the shop to make sure no one had heard the outburst. Luckily everyone was too invested in their own world and it was quite noisy that day.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The boy nearly fell over himself in his hurry to get to the counter.

“Of course it’s you I’d know you anywhere! I’ve got a picture of you on my wall at home! Not in a creepy way or anything, I just like to have pictures for inspiration up where I can see them. My dad always says that’s what Pinterest is for but I always tell him that’s not enough I need to be able to see all my pictures at once. I have pictures of all my idols up there and of course you’re up there because you’re amazing! I did my last science paper on your work with gamma radiation, I even tried to buy some of the equipment to do some of the experiments but my dad said I was too young to be messing around with gamma rays which is ridiculous because really you need to start young which you obviously must have done to achieve seven PhDs! By the way a lot of people think you’re dead.”

The boy finally stopped talking and dragged in a much needed breath. Bruce was panicking and his mind was blank. He heard a muttered ‘What the fuck?’ from Clint. He tuned his focus back on the kid in front of him who was opening his mouth to say something else. Bruce cut him off.

“Look kid, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You clearly have me confused with someone else, I just make coffee. Speaking of which maybe you should order now?”

The kid rattled off a thankfully basic order.

“And can I get a name?”

“Peter. Peter Parker.”

Bruce passed the cup to a confused looking Clint and finished the transaction with Peter before pointing him towards the pick up counter. He let out a sigh of relief when the boy moved on. He braced himself and sure enough when the order was finished Clint focused on him with a look of disbelief on his face.

“Did that kid say you have seven PhDs?!”

Bruce sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“What are the chances of us not having to talk about this?”

“Hey I’m not going to pry if you don’t want to talk but I will warn you that the Parker kid is already on his phone.”

Bruce looked over to where Peter was sitting and grimaced when he saw him talking animatedly on his phone. There was nothing he could do now, he’d just have to wait and see what happened.  
He didn’t have to wait very long. A few minutes later the door chimed announcing another teenager. Bruce picked up another cup.

“Hello, what can I get for you today?”

The boy was staring at him with an expression of awe on his face.

“Dude. There’s a picture of you in our science lab. By the way loads of people think you’re dead.”

Bruce wondered if he would draw too much attention to himself if he started crying. He put the cup down.

“You wouldn’t happen to be a friend of Peter’s would you?”

As if summoned by magic Peter appeared at the other boy’s side.

“See Ned I told you I was right!”

Bruce put his elbows on the counter and leaned forward.

“Look I have no interest in people knowing I’m here so I’d really appreciate it if you wouldn’t tell anymore of your friends about me.”

Peter eyed him up shrewdly in a way that Bruce found oddly familiar.

“Talk to us about science and we won’t tell any of our friends or the press.”

Bruce smiled wryly as Ned watched the exchange in fascination. Finally Bruce sighed and gave in.

“Fine. I’ll talk to you on my lunch break but it stays between us right?”

The teenagers nodded with great enthusiasm and headed back to Peter’s table to wait for Bruce.

“Did you just let a teenager blackmail you?”

“Yes Clint, yes I did.”


	6. Thor

“Well look at that, I do believe it’s my break.”

“What are you talking about? You’re break isn’t for-”

The sound of the kitchen door closing was shortly followed by the front door chime. Thor looked up to see The Guardians walk through the door. He muttered under his breath.

“Oh you are the worst brother.”

However he fixed a smile on his face and greeted the customers.

“What can I get you tonight?”

“Y’know I’m feeling like tonight is a multiple coffee night.”

With a smirk firmly on his face Quill ordered the top five most complicated drinks on the menu. Once he was looking pleased with himself he jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

“I’ll be waiting over there. You can bring the drinks over when you’re done.”

With that he sauntered over to the table that housed his friends while Thor thought about all the ways he was going to kill Loki. He was just finishing up the last drink, finally, when he noticed that Quill was sitting at the edge of the table. A devious grin his brother would be proud of crossed his face. He ducked his head before anyone could see and quickly began pouring out some of the contents of the cups and filling them with cold water. Once the lids were snapped back on he placed them on a tray and made his way towards the table. As he came up to them he suddenly feigned a slip and ‘accidentally’ dumped the entire contents of the coffee cups all over Quill. The man jumped up with a yelp while Drax and Mantis looked concerned. Gamora merely put a hand over her mouth to hide a laugh.

“What the fuck man?!”

“I’m so sorry, I can’t think how that happened. I will of course refund you for the drinks and make you fresh ones if you’d like.”

Quill looked beyond pissed and took a step towards Thor who had a look in his eye that dared him to try something.

“Peter! Maybe we should just go. You have work later and you’re going to have to get cleaned up first.”

Quill and Thor stared each other down a little longer before Quill stepped away and walked out of the shop without another word. The others followed after him but not before Gamora slipped Thor the biggest tip yet with a huge grin on her face. Thor returned the grin and walked back to the empty counter after waving her out. He sighed as he thought about the mess he would now have to clean up. He grabbed a mop and bucket just as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out to check who it was and frowned when he saw Loki’s name on the screen. He opened the message and laughed out loud when he saw the video attachment of him dumping coffee over Quill. He fired back a quick text.

‘You weren’t even in the room, how did you know what was going to happen?’

The reply was almost instantaneous.

‘You should know by now brother that I have a sixth sense when it comes to mischief.’

Thor shook his head with a grin and started in on the cleaning.  
The rest of the week went downhill from there. Every night that Quill came in after that he was even more of an asshole than usual. Thor fought back as usual but the two of them were getting more and more vicious. Even Loki was beginning to look worried. The last shift of the week Loki insisted on taking over the till and wouldn’t let Thor out from behind the counter. Thor and Quill had to content themselves with glaring at each other over the coffee cups.  


When the last shift of the week was over Thor gave a sigh of relief. He was on his own at home that night because Loki was going to a party out of town and Thor was looking forward to the peace and quiet. He decided to walk the long way home and enjoy the night. He was humming peacefully to himself as he made his way to the pizza parlor to pick up dinner. Loki would disembowel him if he found out he went there without him but Thor had no intention of him ever finding out. He was just making his way to the front doors when he heard a commotion coming up the street. He groaned when he recognized them as people Loki had pissed off lately. He had no intention of getting caught in the middle of this shit so he ducked behind the building. He was so intent on escape that he didn’t notice that there was already someone behind there and he nearly knocked them over.

“Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me.”

Thor’s head shot around from where it was peeking around to see if the group had passed to find a very pissed off looking Peter Quill glaring at him. Thor sighed in frustration. This just wasn’t his night.

“Look Quill I’ll be out of your hair in a second so just shut up and we’ll both get out of this unscathed.”

He looked around the corner again but the gang were still there. He heard a chuckle behind him.

“Oh, in some trouble are we?”

“Shut up Quill.”

“And what if I don’t? What if I call out to your friends out there and invite them back here?”

Thor swung around, grabbed Quill by the front of his leather jacket and slammed him against the wall. He hissed at him.

“I said shut the fuck up Quill!”

This just earned him a glare.

“Just try and fucking make me Odinson!”

The frustrations of the week bubbled up inside him and before Thor could consider what he was doing he had smashed his mouth against the other man’s. Quill froze and Thor smirked to himself and started to pull away. The smirk had possibly been a mistake because Quill had clearly felt it. Suddenly there were nails digging into the back of Thor’s neck as he was pulled back against the other man. They didn’t so much much kiss as bite and claw and pull at each other. Months of aggression and tension finally finding an outlet. Thor pressed right up against Quill and ground against him finding that the other man was already hard. Quill let out a filthy moan against Thor’s mouth that went straight to his dick. He finally pulled away and they stood there panting for breath. Thor looked around the corner again.

“They’re gone.”

Quill looked confused for a moment before he remembered what had originally been happening and began fixing his clothes. Thor watched him suddenly knowing exactly what he wanted to do with the rest of his night.

“My place is close by. And empty.”

He could see Quill’s mind working as he considered the clear offer. Just as he thought he was going to be turned down he was pulled into a quick, filthy kiss. Quill pulled away with a smirk.

“After you.”


	7. Steve

Steve was enjoying his break in peace and quiet. He was sitting at the table furthest from the coffee shop door and was sipping his coffee while he sketched. He was so absorbed in drawing the patrons at the next table that he didn’t notice when the other man approached him.

“Is this seat free?”

Steve’s heart jumped as he scolded himself internally that this wasn’t a Hallmark movie. He smiled up at Bucky.

“Of course.”

If Bucky was there while Steve was on break they usually hung out together. Steve was still convinced that Bucky only saw him as a friend but he couldn’t say that out loud anymore as Clint would just make him put a dollar in the ‘Delusion Jar’.

“So do you have much work to get done today?”

Bucky sighed in relief as he took a sip of his coffee.

“Nope. I’ve officially given myself the day off. Trust me, if you’d been reading the shit I’ve had to read you’d say I deserved it too.”

“I don’t doubt you.”

Steve began putting his sketchbook away when Bucky put a hand out.

“Hey don’t let me interrupt your lunch. Sketch away.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah I’ll need a minute to enjoy this amazing coffee anyway.”

Bucky grinned at Steve when he huffed a laugh and opened his sketchbook back up. They spent the next little while in companionable silence. Bucky was humming softly to himself as he looked around the seating area and Steve kept his drawing tipped towards him so the other man couldn’t see what was on the page. He sighed to himself as he put the finishing touches on the drawing of Bucky. He had it bad.

“Cute couple.”

Steve put down his sketchbook and picked up his coffee. He took a drink as Bucky nodded his head in the direction of said cute couple.

“How long have they been together?”

Steve made the mistake of taking another drink of his coffee as he looked in the direction Bucky was indicating. He saw Sam and Scott leaning close to each other with soft smiles on their faces as they talked and promptly choked on his coffee. He put the cup down and coughed as he tried to clear his throat. Bucky looked concerned.

“Are you okay?”

Steve took deep breaths, trying to get himself under control.

“Yeah Steve are you okay?”

Steve instantly flushed and looked up to see a grinning Sam standing at the table. He watched in horror as Sam turned to Bucky and held out his hand.

“Hi there, I’m Sam, Steve’s best friend.”

Bucky looked amused and took the offered hand.

“Hi Sam I’m Bucky.”

“Oh _you’re_ Bucky.”

Steve wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

“You know Steve’s mentioned you once or twice. I’ve been dying to see if you live up to the hype.”

Bucky’s eyebrows were raising and Steve decided that two could play at this game.

“Hey Buck, wasn’t there something you wanted to ask Sam?”

Confusion clouded the other man’s face before understanding settled on it.

“Oh yeah! I was wondering how long you and your boyfriend had been together?”

Now Sam looked confused.

“My boyfriend?”

“Yeah y’know.”

He waved in the direction of the counter where Scott was setting out some fresh pastries. He must have seen the wave because he looked in their direction with a big smile and returned the wave before going back to work. Steve could see Sam flushing.

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Oh I’m sorry. How long have the two of you been married then? It must be a long time for you to be that comfortable with each other.”

Sam looked mortified and said his goodbyes, muttering that he forgot he had somewhere to be. Bucky turned his attention back to his coffee with an innocent look on his face. Steve laughed.

“You’re a real asshole Buck.”

Bucky smirked.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Steve was still laughing as he tried to finish his drink. He looked up at the clock with some disappointment. He threw back the rest of his coffee and gave Bucky an apologetic look.

“Sorry but my break is over. I wish we could have gotten to talk more.”

“What time are you finished work?”

“Six. Why?”

“I was thinking I could call by when you’re finished and we could go do something then. It’d be nice to get a chance to hang out somewhere different for a change.”

Steve fought down a blush at Bucky’s smile.

“Yeah sure. That sounds fun.”

They both stood up and Bucky’s smile got bigger.

“It’s a date.”

He left a floored Steve standing by the table as he left the shop whistling to himself. Steve made his way back to the counter in a daze and put his apron back on. He stood at the till going over the conversation in his head and trying not to blush. Scott honest to god skipped over to him with a grin on his face.

“Did I just hear Bucky Barnes ask our own Steve Rogers on a date?”

Steve flushed an even brighter red and shook his head vehemently.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that. He probably just meant it as a joke, y’know, like how sometimes people say that without meaning it in the literal sense.”

The Delusion Jar slid across the counter and bumped into his hand.

“Fuck off Clint.”


	8. Clint

Clint rolled his eyes as, for the forth day in a row, Pietro followed Wanda into the coffee shop. They approached the counter and Clint already had the cups ready.

“The usual?”

Wanda smiled gratefully.

“Yes Clint, thank you.”

The brat said nothing and Clint rolled his eyes again. He started making the coffees himself. He’d been given the Dead Shifts for the last week. He worked regular shifts other days as well but he’d volunteered for the the quiet shifts too. They were a bit of a double edged sword. Very few people came in at that time so it wasn’t busy but it could also be really boring. He was basically the only person working if you didn’t count Scott, which Clint didn’t because the man would remain hidden in the kitchen unless Sam Wilson made an appearance, and Vision, which he didn’t because he was basically useless once Wanda appeared. So yeah it may be boring but it also helped pay for child support so Clint was willing to work with it. He put the finished orders down on the pick up counter. In big letters one said WANDA and the other one said KID. Pietro glared at him when he saw this but Clint simply smiled back at him. They made their way to the usual table and sat down.  


Vision entered from the kitchen and Clint elbowed him, gesturing in the direction of their newest customers. Wanda perked up when she saw him and Vision smiled back at her. The smile faded however when he saw who she was with. He suddenly remembered something Scott needed help with in the kitchen and retreated back there. Wanda visibly deflated. She picked at her cup for a few moments before getting up and disappearing in the direction of the bathrooms. Clint grabbed a cloth and made his way into the seating area. He reached the table housing a brooding Pietro and began wiping it down.

“Is your eyesight going with your old age? The table does not need to be cleaned.”

Clint made a big show of looking surprised.

“Would you look at that, you’re right. And yet even with my fading sight I can see you’re fucking things up for yourself.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Clint lay his palms flat on the tabletop and brought himself to Pietro’s eye level.

“I mean that I would put good money on the fact that your sister is probably crying in the bathroom right now and it’s your fault.”

Pietro’s expression never changed but he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“I am simply trying to protect her.”

“I get that, but you’re also pushing her away. You can protect her and let her be happy at the same time.”

The younger man narrowed his eyes.

“And how do you suggest I do that old man?”

“Sit at a different table. You can still see her and Vision but Wanda won’t feel like you’re suffocating her. She’ll be happy, you’ll be happy, hell I’ll be happy.”

Pietro glared at him but he could tell that he was considering the idea.

“Would you do this if you were in my position?”

Clint shrugged.

“I see better from a distance.”

He straightened up.

“But hey, it’s up to you. If you want to be the reason your sister is miserable and crying in public restrooms then that’s up to you.”

“I really hate you.”

“And I’m oddly okay with that.”

Knowing he couldn’t do much else Clint returned to his station. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Pietro fidgeted for a few more moments before leaving out an aggravated sigh, grabbing his drink, and moving to another table. Shortly after Wanda appeared from the bathroom and looked confused when she noticed Pietro was gone from the table. She sat down and looked around the room. When she saw where her brother had moved to she made to join him but he waved her off. She remained where she was and Clint could see she was still confused. He prepared a drink and knocked on the kitchen door. Vision popped his head out and Clint all but threw the cup at him.

“Here. Take this and go talk to your girlfriend.”

Vision looked from the cup to the table that he now noticed was Pietro free. A shy smile appeared on his face as he headed towards her. When she noticed him Wanda’s entire face lit up. He sat beside her and they held hands as they began to talk. Clint shot a look in the kid’s direction. He looked like he was trying to swallow barbed wire rather than a mouthful of caramel macchiato. Clint sighed and made himself a coffee and, after looking out the windows and making sure no one was approaching the shop, made his way to the full bodied scowl. He dropped into the seat across from Pietro and took a sip of his drink.

“So, come here often?”

Pietro looked at him with an expression of extreme bafflement on his face.

“What are you doing?”

“Distracting you so you don’t ruin the little bit of good work you’ve managed.”

His expression turned sour.

“I do not need a babysitter.”

“And here I was looking forward to putting you over my knee and spanking you when you were bad.”

Pietro’s face flamed red and he couldn’t seem to remember how to form words. He eventually grabbed his cup and started drinking when he clearly couldn’t think of a decent comeback. Seeing the rise that his words got out of the kid Clint smirked into his drink. This was going to be fun.


	9. Bruce

“It’s actually quite simple really. This plus should be a minus.”

“Fuck- I mean shit- I mean thanks Dr. Banner!”

Bruce smiled and shook his head as Peter hurriedly tried to fix his mistake. He had given the boy some of the college level books he had still had lying around his apartment and Peter was in his element. Ned had spent the rest of the break on a family trip so Peter had had Bruce’s undivided attention. Bruce was impressed with Peter’s thirst for knowledge. Whatever work Bruce gave him to do the kid gave it his all. He could tell that Peter loved what he was doing and often listened to lengthy one-sided conversations about the areas that he wanted to specialize in once he got to college. He was hoping to get into MIT like his dad had and nearly burst with pride when Bruce told him he should have no problems there judging by what he’d seen of his work.  


Peter was there everyday doing his schoolwork while he was waiting for Bruce to get his break and Bruce had to admit he’d miss him when school started again. The kid was a ball of sunshine that could rarely keep still and always had a smile ready for everyone. Bruce hadn’t taught in a long time but it was coming back to him the longer he spent with Peter and he was remembering why he had liked it so much. It was all very well to be on the cutting edge of discovery, but there was nothing quite like shaping the minds of the future and seeing the expression on their faces when what they’d been struggling with finally clicked. He couldn’t help thinking that if he had just stuck to teaching he never would have had to go into hiding in the first place. They finished up shortly after that and Bruce felt a little sad when Peter left with a wave. School started back the next day and Bruce figured that would be the last he’d see of him.  


Of course knowing Peter, even after such a short while, he should have known better. The schools had only let out with about thirty minutes when Peter was standing in front of the till with a hopeful smile on his face asking Bruce if he could go over some equations with him. Bruce let out a soft laugh and told him that would be no problem. Peter lit up and disappeared with his order to his usual spot. He pulled out a frankly alarming number of books and started working furiously. He got some good natured teasing from Clint for having a fan.

“He’s not a fan.”

“I think you’ll find that’s a dollar for the Delusion Jar.”

Bruce sighed but put a dollar in the jar anyway. It was filling up quite fast. Clint had a drink and some food waiting for him by the time his break came around and he took it over to where Peter was chewing on a pen. They talked and Bruce guided him for the duration of his lunch break. This continued every day and Bruce couldn’t find it in him to mind. It was nice to talk about science again without having to worry about repercussions. And as was also part of Bruce’s everyday routine, an hour or two after Peter left Tony made his usual appearance. Bruce wasn’t even sure anymore if Tony was still trying to figure out why he looked familiar or if he came in purely to flirt. It had been fine at first, but when the flirting became more obvious Bruce faltered. He’d never been good at accepting compliments and he never knew how to respond to flirtation. Clint, the little shit, was enjoying every minute of it.

“I know why you look familiar! You’re an angel aren’t you? Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

Bruce could hear Clint snort behind him as he looked at Tony in disbelief.

“Does that line ever actually work?”

Tony shrugged with a grin.

“Never used it before. Usually I just have to say ‘Hi I’m Tony Stark’ and I’m in.”

“You have such a hard life.”

Tony barked a laugh and Bruce had to hide his own smile.

“Are you actually going to order something?”

“Of course. I’d like a date with you with an extra shot of your surname.”

“I’m afraid we’re all out, you’ll just have to have a black coffee instead.”

“That’s a shame. And when will you be getting that back in stock?”

“I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.”

Bruce scribbled Tony’s name and order on a cup and passed it to a grinning Clint. When he turned back to Tony he was met with an amused expression.

“You know I don’t think anyone’s ever turned me down this many times before. It’s not good for my ego.”

“I think your ego can take the beating.”

“I can think of another part of me that could take a beating.”

Bruce sighed and covered his blushing face. How did Tony get away with saying these things?

“Wow, just wow.”

“Now that I have heard before.”

Bruce lowered his hand and looked at a grinning Tony in disbelief. Before he could say anything in response they heard Clint’s voice call out from the the pick up counter.

“Terry Stork? I’ve got a collection for Terry Stork?”

Bruce pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing out loud at the look on Tony’s face. The man in question turned back to him with a devious glint in his eye.

“When you’re the one calling out my name I’ll make sure you get it right.”

Bruce rolled his eyes at Tony’s grin and waved goodbye to him as he left.

“I don’t know which of you is worse to be honest.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about and if you even thinking about waving that jar near me you’re getting hot coffee poured over you.”

Things went on in this way for another week before everything came to a head. Bruce frowned as he walked over to where Peter was sitting.

“You okay kid? You’re normally gone home by now.”

Peter smiled up at him.

“Everything’s fine Dr. B, I’m just waiting for my dad to pick me up. He finished work early so we’re going to go catch a movie.”

Bruce thought nothing of it and went back to work. A little while later he looked up from his book by the till when the door chimed and smiled when he saw Tony saunter in. The billionaire headed towards him with a cheeky grin. He never got the chance to say anything as Peter appeared at his side with a huge smile on his face.

“C’mon dad we gotta go or we’ll miss the trailers!”

Peter looked to Bruce who was frozen in place. He grinned and waved.

“See you tomorrow Dr. Banner!”

Peter began making his way to the door but stopped when he realized his dad hadn’t moved. He walked back to him with a look of confusion on his face.

“Dad?”

Tony was staring at Bruce.

“Dr. Banner. Dr. Bruce Banner.”

Bruce could see the exact moment Tony realized who he was. He turned to a concerned looking Clint, the panic clear on his face. His friend nudged him towards the kitchen and took his place at the till. Bruce all but ran to hide in the kitchen. Before the door swung closed he heard Clint’s voice.

“I’m sorry but Bruce is unavailable right now, you’ll have to try again another day.”

He didn’t hear Tony’s response and he buried his face in his hands.

Fuck.


	10. Thor

“I just don’t understand Thor, I really don’t.”

“Brother I-”

“The bed was reinforced, how did you manage to break it?!”

“I told you, I fell on it while I was drunk.”

“I’m not helping you pay for a replacement.”

Thor was about to respond when someone cleared their throat. He turned at the till to see Quill standing there with a shit-eating grin on his face. He opened his mouth to say something but Thor growled at him.

“Not a fucking word Quill.”

Quill shrugged and held up his hands.

“Whatever man I just want to order a coffee.”

“What do you want?”

“You know customers can leave feedback on the service they receive right? So far, I gotta say man, you’re earning yourself the sad face.”

Loki shoved Thor out of the way before he could respond.

“What can I get you Phil?”

Loki was on the receiving end of a glare this time.

“I’ll have a tall, hot, blond roast.”

Loki frowned slightly as he rang it up.

“That seems a lot less… complicated than your usual order.”

Quill shrugged and Thor could see him biting back a smirk.

“What can I say? I’ve developed a taste for it.”

Later that night when they had collapsed, sweating and panting, on Quill’s bed Thor said in disbelief:

“’A tall, hot, blond roast’? Really?”

Quill laughed.

“I couldn’t help myself.”

Thor rolled his eyes and repeated.

“’I’ve developed a taste for it’. You’re not subtle you know.”

Suddenly Thor found himself being straddled while Quill breathed in his ear.

“Do you really want subtle?”

Thor rolled them over so Quill was pinned beneath him. He kissed the other man fiercely, slipping his tongue into an eager mouth. Quill reached up to him but Thor pinned his hands to the bed above his head. He leaned back slightly to appreciate Quill’s blown pupils and haggard breath. He must have looked too pleased with himself because Quill surged forwards and their mouths met again. They soon found themselves working back into a frenzy when Thor growled hotly into Quill’s ear.

“How about we try breaking your bed this time?”

Quill moaned and thrust his hips up against the other man. It was some time before either of them could form a coherent thought again. This time when they finished Quill yawned and Thor took that as his cue to leave. He eyed up the still standing bed as he got dressed and Quill grinned when he saw the look.

“We’ll just have to try again another time.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“Trust me, I appreciate it every time you hold me to it.”

Thor’s eyes darkened and Quill looked far too pleased with himself. He covered his mouth as he yawned again and Thor took a lot of pleasure from how wrecked the other man looked. He zipped up his hoodie.

“See you tomorrow.”

Quill mumbled something indecipherable and Thor huffed a laugh as he left the apartment. He took a deep breath of the night air and shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets as he began the walk home. His and Quill’s enemies-with-benefits arrangement had been going on for nearly three weeks now and Thor was enjoying himself maybe more than he should be. Somewhere between rounds one and two, and weeks one and two, they became less abrasive with each other. That’s not to say that they didn’t fight when they saw each other at the coffee shop or out in the city, it just meant that they knew they had something even better to look forward to later. The fighting made for hot sex but sometimes it became something different, something slower and softer. Neither of them ever brought it up, both pretending that they didn’t notice anything different. However Thor knew himself and knew he was playing a dangerous game.  


He was enjoying the moments when they were slower with each other. He had to stop himself from smiling in response to Quill’s genuine laughs, which were so much better than his bitter ones. They were slowly becoming more at ease with each other and getting used to each other’s ways. The one rule they never broke though was that they never spent the night. Quill never stayed at his and he never stayed at Quill’s. But in reality Thor was a cuddler. He could only imagine the mocking he’d get if Quill discovered that.  
He finally reached his apartment and eased the door open when he’d unlocked it. He shut the door gently and let out a sigh of relief.

“What time do you call this?”

“Sorry mother.”

Loki gave him a sour look.

“Very funny. Where have you been?”

“I went out for something to eat and then took a walk.”

He shrugged and made his way towards his room with Loki following behind him.

“And did you break anymore beds on your walk?”

Thor froze.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about brother.”

Loki snorted.

“Of course you don’t. I do hope you will introduce me to him or her eventually.”

Thor frowned and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“If something were going on I can assure you that it’s not the kind of thing that will lead to introductions.”

Loki looked surprised.

“Well colour me intrigued. I never pegged you for the friends-with-benefits kind of person brother.”

“Neither did I.”

With that Thor entered his room and closed the door behind him leaving a very confused Loki behind him. Thor threw himself onto the mattress on his bedroom floor. He put an arm over his eyes and sighed. He thought about Quill’s sleepy mumbles as he snuggled into his blankets and felt his heart give a flip.  


He was well and truly fucked.


	11. Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is going up a day late I was suffering technical difficulties! I hope this chapter makes it up to you.

It had been a few days since Steve and Bucky had hung out on their not-date. Steve didn’t care what anyone else at work said, Bucky never made a move or made it clear that his intentions were anything but friendly so Steve concluded sadly that Bucky was just trying to be a better friend. They were meeting up that day again when Steve was finished work and he was looking forward to it. Clint leaned against the counter beside him.

“So remind me where the two of you have hung out so far.”

“We went to the beach, the art gallery and an old style tea shop.”

“And where are you going tonight?”

“The fun fair! Bucky heard me say that I hadn’t been to one in years and he insisted we go to this one.”

Clint stared at him as if willing him to understand something. Steve furrowed his brow in confusion.

“What?”

“You are truly hopeless. You know that right?”

Steve was just about to ask him what he meant when he heard someone clear their throat gently. Steve saw Clint’s expression soften.

“Hey Wanda. It’s unusual to see you here at this time.”

Wanda smiled.

“We decided to ‘shake things up’.”

“We?”

Steve was writing Wanda’s name and usual order on a cup when the door opened again. A young man walked in and stood beside Wanda while offering a sneer to Clint.

“Old man.”

“Brat.”

Steve took in the look on Clint’s face and winced on behalf of the guy it was directed at. It was something akin to unholy glee but with a Barton twist. It never meant good things for the person it was aimed at. Wanda put her hand on the young man’s arm and smiled at Steve.

“Forgive my brother’s rudeness. Steve this is Pietro, Pietro this is Steve.”

Pietro offered a polite nod to Steve before going back to glaring at Clint who was now whistling in a carefree way as he got the orders ready. Once they had paid they moved down the counter to collect their orders. He had no idea what the cups said but Wanda bit back a smile and dragged a fuming Pietro away from a smirking Clint. The older man was laughing to himself as he walked back to Steve. 

“Have you checked the time? You better get going, you don’t want to keep lover boy waiting.”

Steve swore as he saw what time it was and ducked through the kitchen into the locker room to get changed. He was racing out the door in record time but still managing to flip Clint off when he heard him call ‘Give him a kiss for me!’ He hopped on the nearest tram and was on the outskirts of the city soon enough. He hurried to their agreed on meeting spot and smiled when he saw Bucky was already there. He trotted up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Bucky turned to him with a smile.

“Was beginning to think you weren’t going to show Rogers.”

Steve flushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Sorry Buck, customers came in just before I was getting ready to leave and I kind of got distracted.”

“It’s okay I’m just messing with you, I’m not here long myself.”

Bucky slid his hands into his jacket pockets and nodded in the direction of the entrance with a smile.

“You want to head inside?”

Steve nodded with a smile of his own and they walked in side by side. Steve’s face lit up when they walked in. He hadn’t been to a fun fair in years and had forgotten how much he loved them. He was so distracted with looking at everything around him that he missed the soft smile that Bucky was watching him with. They decided to try out some of the games before they went on any of the rides and headed towards the nearest booth. It was a shooting game, you needed to hit and knock over a certain amount of cans to win a prize. Steve tried first and while he did hit some cans he didn’t get enough to win anything. He fought back a pout and passed the rifle to Bucky who raised it to eye level and almost immediately annihilated all the cans. Steve watched with wide eyes as Bucky threw him a smirk and passed the gun back to the person running the booth and laughed when he received a bright yellow over-sized duck teddy in exchange. He passed it to Steve with a grin.

“There you go. Now you can’t say I never gave you anything.”

Steve could think of something he’d like Bucky to give him and promptly blushed to the roots of his hair. He avoided looking at Bucky by giving the toy his full attention.

“So what are you going to call it?”

Steve threw him a cheeky grin as inspiration struck.

“Ducky.”

Bucky threw his head back and laughed loud. Steve was positive in that moment that he was the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen. Once Bucky got a hold of himself they moved on to the next booth. They had fun messing around with the games, deliberately throwing each other off so neither of them managed to win anything else. They finally admitted defeat and decided to move on to the rides. Steve wasn’t a big fan of the more daredevil rides and Bucky was fine with going on the more chill ones. The night was starting to wind down when they decided to finish up by going on the Ferris Wheel. They climbed into one of the cars and once the bar was locked into position they began to move. Steve let out a sigh of contentment when they began to rise higher and higher. He’d always loved the view from the top of a Ferris Wheel. He could see the lights of the city in the distance glowing in the dark like stars he could almost reach out and touch. He turned to ask Bucky what he thought only to see the other man watching him with an indecipherable expression on his face. Steve frowned.

“Buck? Is everything alright?”

Bucky sighed and scratched the back of is neck.

“Look Steve, I’m not good at this kind of thing, and maybe I’m misreading the signs, but I really want to kiss you. And I have for a while.”

Steve stared at him in shock with his mouth open. His brain shouting at him ‘What are you doing?! Say something!’ Bucky dropped his eyes from Steve’s.

“Shit. Sorry. I clearly misread the situation and now I’ve fucked everything up. But we’re on a Ferris Wheel and you’re smart, and funny, and gorgeous, and sweet, and I really should have listened to my brain when it tried to convince me that my life wasn’t a Hallmark movie. Please don’t hate me okay? I’m sorry.”

Bucky was still babbling but Steve just grinned and launched himself at him. He pulled back from the kiss to smile at Bucky’s wide eyes.

“I’ve wanted to do that since the first week I met you.”

Bucky’s face broke into a huge smile and he pulled Steve back to him. They spent the rest of the ride ignoring the view with Steve thinking to himself ‘Not even Hallmark movies have it this good’.


	12. Clint

Clint sung the lyrics to a suggestive song he liked low enough that it couldn’t be heard by anyone other than the current occupants of the table. He wasn’t an idiot, he may be on his break but this was still his place of work, he didn’t need to get himself into trouble. That didn’t mean he couldn’t have a little fun though. Pietro was currently scowling at him in a bid to hide the fact that he was blushing. The kid talked a good game but had absolutely no idea how to handle innuendo. Clint had decided the first time he had sat with Pietro in the coffee shop to distract him from taking a step back with Wanda that he would continue to do it. It not only helped out Vision and Wanda but he got an inordinate amount of fun out of it too.

“Must you really sing that song?”

Clint feigned ignorance.

“Sorry, didn’t realize I was singing something. What was it?”

Pietro avoided his eyes and scowled into his coffee. Clint leaned forward.

“Surely you remember some of the words if it was bothering you so much.”

He couldn’t help smirking and Pietro narrowed his eyes.

“You are messing with me. You know what you were singing and you are trying to embarrass me.”

“Trying or succeeding?”

Pietro decided to take the mature approach and ignore him. Clint began to sing the song again to see how long it would take to get a reaction from him. The faint blush reappeared almost immediately but he studiously avoided looking at the older man. He was a determined little shit, but then again, so was Clint. He started to hum the song instead. He closed his eyes and bobbed his head in time, making the sounds a little more suggestive than the song called for. He gave it a couple of lines and then opened his eyes to see a slack jawed Pietro staring at him. He gave him a shit-eating grin and Pietro swung a kick at him under the table. Clint caught his leg between his and held it there. He gave him a charming smile.

“Now now, that’s not any way for nice young man like yourself to act.”

Pietro growled at him.

“Give me back my leg.”

“Only if you ask nicely.”

Suddenly the leg between his stopped trying to pull away. He was about to make a comment when it slowly began to slide up against his inner thighs. Clint loosened his grip in shock and the captive leg was pulled away. Now it was Pietro’s turn to smirk at Clint. Clint laughed and held out his hand.

“Well played kid.”

Pietro flashed a cocky smile and took Clint’s hand which the older man instantly flipped over and placed a slow dragging kiss across his knuckles while he watched the flush return to Pietro’s face.

“Just remember I’ve played longer.”

Clint placed Pietro’s hand back on the table and stood up. He stretched his arms over his head until he felt a pop then picked up his cup.

“Well my break is over so I better get back to work.”

As he began to walk away he threw one last grin to a wide eyed Pietro.

“See you tomorrow kid.”

He chuckled to himself as he went back to work behind the counter. He wouldn’t tease the kid so much except he’d heard Wanda berating her brother more than once for his playboy ways. Pietro knew how to play the game so Clint figured it couldn’t hurt to tease him a bit.  
The next day he was sitting with the younger man in silence, making sure not to antagonize him in any way. Pietro took this at face value and at first seemed content with the silence but eventually started to fidget and began a conversation himself.

“Did it hurt getting those done?”

He gestured to the tattoos covering Clint’s left arm.

“A bit, but I can’t help myself. I love a good prick.”

He took a sip of his coffee to hide his grin as Pietro groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

“Come on kid that was too easy.”

“Like you?”

Clint looked him over.

“I’m impressed kid.”

“I’m not a kid.”

Clint snorted.

“Sure.”

“Would you like me to prove it?”

Clint raised his eyebrows in surprise when Pietro cocked one of his own. Where did this cocky little shit come from? There was a certainty settled about Pietro and understanding dawned on Clint.

“Oh I see. You’re feeling cocky now because you think I don’t mean anything I say.”

Pietro looked somewhat uncertain now.

“Do you?”

“Would you like me to prove it?”

The blush made a welcome reappearance. Pietro began to argue with him.

“But you call me kid.”

“I call you kid because it annoys you, it’s just something I say. Now ask me what I think about.”

Pietro opened and closed his mouth a number of times but couldn’t seem to decide on what to say. Clint stood up with a grin.

“Get back to me when you want to know.”

He went back to work, sneaking looks at Pietro when he thought no one would notice. He didn’t have to worry about Wanda or Vision, they were so wrapped up in their own world that the building could fall down around them and they wouldn’t notice. The kid was frowning and biting his lip. He looked conflicted and Clint felt a little sorry for him. Not too much because he’d probably be back to glaring and talking shit the next day.  


However, the next day arrived but Pietro didn’t. When Clint mentioned this to Wanda she smiled and said Pietro was giving her a ‘trial run’ without him around. Clint laughed but couldn’t help feeling worried. Had he actually driven the kid away? He began to suspect he had when Pietro failed to turn up the next three days in a row. It was great for Wanda and Vision but Clint was starting to find himself missing him. On the third day he finished up his shift and headed outside to the alley beside the shop where he parked his bike. He was lost in thought and didn’t immediately notice the younger man leaning against the wall.

“Is your sight really that bad old man?”

Clint looked up with a start to see Pietro smirking at him from his position against the wall. He had his arms folded and a cock sure smirk in place.

“Hey kid. You haven’t been around for a while.”

“Did you miss me?”

Clint was about to make a snarky retort when he saw something vulnerable swiftly appear and disappear across the younger man’s face. He pocketed his keys and made his way slowly towards him. He stopped when they were chest to chest with Pietro tipping his head back slightly to look at him.

“Did you want me to Pietro?”

He added a slight purr to the name and they were so close he felt the shuddering breath rather than heard it.

“Old m-”

“Say my name Pietro.”

“Clint.”

The name was breathed out with a reverence that Clint didn’t feel he deserved but was selfish enough to accept.

“Why are you out here Pietro?”

He could see that the younger man was going to make a snarky comment on reflex.

“Answer me honestly. What do you want?”

Pietro straightened up and after a moment of biting his lip he leaned forward and kissed Clint slowly. He pulled back and looked at him in determination.

“I want to know.”


	13. Bruce

Bruce sighed as he entered the coffee shop. It was going to be a long night. A company had hired the coffee shop for the night to hold a function. They were being stingy though and only offering to pay for one person to run the counter. Even though he didn’t normally work nights he had to agree that he was the best choice. He knew all the orders inside out and was pretty unflappable. Thor waved him goodbye as he left, he’d come in to set things up so Bruce would have one less thing to do. Bruce locked the door after Thor walked out so no night owls would think they were open. He went into the kitchen to check on the food Scott had prepared earlier but frowned when he thought he heard the door chime. He walked back out and checked the door, pulling on the handle, but it was locked. He shrugged and turned to head behind the counter to do a quick check of the stock.

“Hello Bruce.”

Bruce jumped and pressed a hand to his hammering heart. Tony Stark was sitting at one of the tables near the window with an unimpressed look on his face.

“How the hell did you get in here?”

Tony held up a key.

“Fury owed me a favor.”

Of course Tony knew his boss. 

“Okay, so what are you doing here?”

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

Bruce was about to fire back that he had no idea what Tony was talking about when everything clicked into place. He rubbed his hand over his face.

“There’s no function tonight is there?”

“No. There’s not.”

“Are you telling me you rented out this entire shop just to force me to talk to you?”

Tony shrugged like it was nothing and Bruce supposed to him it wasn’t. He shook his head and headed for the door, glad he hadn’t taken his coat off.

“Well this has been lovely but I’ve got other things to do. See you around Tony.”

Bruce pulled at the door before remembering it was locked. He reached for the key only to find that it was gone. He sighed in defeat and pressed his forehead against the glass.

“You have the only key don’t you?”

“I always think it’s pointless to ask questions you already know the answers to.”

“What do you want Tony?”

“I want the two of us to sit down with a coffee and talk to each other.”

Bruce knew there was no way around it so he went back behind the counter, threw his coat over the till and made them both a drink. They stayed in silence until he was done and sitting at the table across from Tony. Bruce took a sip from his drink and waited for Tony to start talking. It didn’t take long. Tony examined his drink before taking a sip.

“Do you know how annoying it is to have to answer to your actual name when you order coffee? It’s maddening.”

“Yes imagine people doing their job properly instead of flirting with the customers.”

Tony regarded him with raised eyebrows.

“Is that what was happening?”

Bruce blushed but stayed silent. Tony sighed and put his cup down.

“Just, please tell me why you started avoiding me like I was carrying the plague.”

“Because you found out who I am.”

“And is that such a bad thing?”

“Yes Tony it is! Because I know you. You would have told me I was wasting my talents, that I should be working in the scientific field again. And I would probably have given in and done it.”

“You are wasting your talents! And yes you should be working back in the field. You’re Dr. Bruce Banner, holder of seven PhDs and idol of my son! Do you know how infuriating it is by the way not to be your own son’s scientific idol?”

Bruce shook his head with a smile.

“Peter’s a great kid.” 

Tony beamed.

“He is isn’t he? That’s why you looked familiar to me by the way, he has a picture of you on his wall. I’m in and out of his room literally everyday and I never realized that’s where I knew you from. Because I racked my not inconsiderable brain and couldn’t remember ever seeing you on the conference circuit. Did you avoid them with the same intensity that you’ve given to avoiding me?”

“I was badgered into presenting at a few conferences in my time. I actually sat in on a number of your presentations too.”

Tony leaned back in surprise.

“You did?”

Bruce looked at him in disbelief.

“Of course I did. You’re Tony Stark, one of the greatest minds of our generation. I would have been an idiot not to take a chance to see what you were working on.”

Tony seemed to be taking this in.

“I can’t believe it. Imagine if we’d met and actually had a chance to work with each other, because I’ve spent the last few days reading nearly all of the scientific papers you’ve published and it’s fascinating. Groundbreaking even.”

Bruce looked away guiltily and took a sip of his drink. Tony’s eyes narrowed.

“Why do I feel like you’re hiding something from me?”

Bruce picked at his cup.

“Well, uh, your CEO Pepper Potts may have approached me to discuss you and I working together. More than once.”

“What? First of all how did you manage to say no to her, and second of all if you were so impressed and interested in what I was working on why did you turn the opportunity down?”

“Because I’m realistic and as amazing as it would have been to work with you in reality I probably would have held you back.”

“You have the most crippling lack of self confidence that I’ve ever come across, did you know that?”

“Anyway, by that time I was already starting to pull away and toying with the idea of hiding out.”

“Now this has been killing me. From all reports of the time you were at the top of your game, pushing boundaries, why would you give that up?”

“Because I pushed too hard in the wrong direction.”

Tony looked confused and Bruce felt that he owed him an explanation.

“I was working on discovering different applications for gamma radiation and I shared this information with my then girlfriend which in turn led to her father finding out which was the problem.”

“Why? Who was your girlfriend’s father?”

“General Thaddeus Ross.”

Tony let out a low whistle.

“That nut case?”

Bruce winced.

“Yeah. He wanted me to use my knowledge to create weapons for the military. I kept telling him no and in the end he lost his patience with me. Betty warned me that he was planning to break into my lab and take all the information and results I had. I knew I couldn’t let him get his hands on any of that so I erased all the hard drives and blew up the lab. I let people think I was dead because I knew it was the only way I could escape Ross.”

Bruce smiled sadly at Tony.

“I was content with my life here and then in you came and tilted everything on its axis. You were so certain you knew me from somewhere and I was so scared you’d figure it out. I knew I should stay away from you but I couldn’t help myself. It’s been so long since I’ve felt this at ease with someone. But I was never going to take you up on your offer of dinner.”

Tony looked hurt.

“Why not?”

Bruce instinctively reached out and covered Tony’s hand with his own.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, you have no idea how badly I want to say yes. But there’s one thing I know for sure about you Tony and that’s that you always share your spotlight with whoever you’re with. And I can’t risk that.”

He moved to pull his hand away but Tony grabbed it and stopped him.

“Surely it’s safe to come out of hiding now right? Ross must have moved on to other things by now.”

Bruce stroked his thumb across Tony’s knuckles with a shake of his head. 

“I stayed in contact with Betty afterward and still get regular updates from her. Ross is a petty man and the fact that I defied him in such an open way infuriated him. He’s never forgotten me and I’ll never be safe from him.”

Tony stared at their intertwined hands in silence. Bruce could practically see the gears in his head working. He eventually spoke up.

“Okay so here’s my idea. I don’t seduce you into going out with me or jumping back into scientific life and you stop avoiding me when I come in here. Because I gotta tell you, I have no intention of letting you slip out of my life completely. I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give.”

“That’s not fair on you Tony.”

“That’s for me to decide.”

He raised Bruce’s hand to his mouth and kissed it softly.

“Please?”

Bruce knew a losing battle when he saw one. He huffed a laugh.

“Okay.”

Tony’s eyes lit up with happiness but his mouth was quirked with mischief.

“You know, all the best agreements are sealed with a kiss.”

Bruce laughed.

“Who am I to mess with tradition?”

He was still smiling when Tony leaned across the table and kissed him.


	14. Thor

Thor swore as he huddled in the doorway of the pizza parlor. He had thought it would stop raining while he was inside but it had just gotten heavier. He hadn’t put on a coat when he left the apartment as the weather looked fine and his hoodie was still saturated from the soaking it got on the way for food. He was now glaring at the cardboard box containing his pizza and trying to figure out if it would last the mad dash home. Suddenly he heard shouting nearby and looked around to investigate. He realized it was The Guardians and pulled his hood further down over his face. He watched as Mantis and Drax stopped further down the street, both huddled under an umbrella, while Gamora chased after Quill under her own umbrella. Quill was just in a t-shirt with his trademark leather jacket slung over his shoulder. He was walking determinedly ahead of Gamora.

“Come on Peter you don’t need to do this! You know drinking never helps.”

“It does for a while.”

“But it’s not the answer. Come back to my place with Drax and Mantis and we’ll watch a movie or something.”

Quill suddenly spun around to face her and even from where he was Thor could make out the anger on his face.

“Watch a movie? Watch a movie? You really think that’s going to help?! If I want to go and get shit faced in a bar that’s my business not yours!”

“I’m just trying to help!”

“Well I don’t need your help and I don’t need theirs either!”

He was gesturing back down the street to where Drax and Mantis were.

“I understand this is hard for you Peter, but you can’t keep doing this every year. You can’t keep pushing us away!”

Quill got right up in her face.

“Watch me.”

He turned around and practically ran in the other direction. Gamora took one step as if to follow him but stopped. She shook her head and made her way back to her friends and they left together. Thor was indecisive initially but admitted defeat and ran after Quill. By the time he reached him the other man had slowed down considerably. He didn’t even seem to notice the rain.

“You’re going to catch a cold if you stay out dressed like that.”

Quill jerked to the side but scowled when he realized who was beside him.

“What do you want Odinson?”

“Pizza. But I’ve already got that.”

He lifted up the slightly soggy box as evidence. Quill snorted but kept walking.

“I couldn’t help overhearing that you’re going out drinking tonight.”

“None of your business Odinson.”

“I know. I just thought I’d offer you some pizza so you would have something to eat before you went drinking.”

Quill stopped and regarded him suspiciously.

“What’s in it for you?”

Thor shrugged nonchalantly but gave no verbal response. Quill continued to stare him down but he got nothing. Eventually he tipped his head back and sighed.

“Fine.”

“Excellent. We can go back to my place so we can eat somewhere dry. Hold this for a minute would you?”

He tossed Quill the pizza box and he had to scramble to catch a hold of it.

“What the hell are you-”

The rest of the sentence came out muffled as Thor dumped his hoodie on Quill’s head. It was lined so the inside of it was still dry. Thor took back the pizza box and grabbed Quill’s coat off his shoulder.

“Put that on. If you’re on the verge of catching a cold I’m not having you bring it into my house. I’m not getting sick because you didn’t have enough sense to dress appropriately.”

Quill glared at him and they stared each other down. He finally gave in and huffed and complained the entire time he was putting the hoodie on. When he finally had it zipped up and the hood pulled over his head Thor had to bite back a laugh. The hoodie was slightly too big for Quill but he knew better than to say anything. Plus he was getting a primal thrill from seeing Quill wearing his clothes. They continued on their way to Thor’s apartment in silence. By the time they were inside Quill was shivering. Thor was fine, he loved the rain especially if it threw a little thunder and lightening into the mix. He was worried about Quill though and indicated that he should follow him. They entered Thor’s room and Quill raised an eyebrow.

“What happened to just pizza?”

“Oh it’s still about the pizza, you’re just shivering so much you probably won’t be able to hold on to a slice so I’m getting you some dry clothes.”

Quill protested that he was fine but considering he had his arms wrapped around himself Thor wasn’t buying it. He started digging around in his closet when he heard a laugh. He turned to see amusement on Quill’s face.

“Have you seriously not replaced your bed yet?”

Thor realized he was looking at the mattress on the floor and smirked at Quill.

“What’s the point of buying one when we’ll probably just destroy that one too.”

Heat flared in Quill’s eyes and Thor had to force himself to return to the search for clothes. Eventually he handed Quill a dry t-shirt, sweatpants and underwear before ducking into the bathroom to grab him a towel to dry off. He left him to his privacy while trying to salvage the pizza after changing into dry clothes of his own. It was only slightly damp and still warm so he considered that a win. He was plating the slices of pizza when he heard Quill enter the kitchen. 

“Dude this is the most comfortable hoodie I’ve ever worn!”

Thor frowned. He didn’t give him a hoodie. He looked up to see what Quill was talking about and his mind went blank. If he’d gotten a thrill from seeing Quill in his hoodie earlier it was nothing compared to seeing him completely dressed in Thor’s clothes. Quill had obviously rifled through his clothes to find another hoodie and had put that on. He picked up a plate of pizza and made his way into the sitting room apparently completely unaware of what he was doing to Thor. Thor finally snapped out of it and followed Quill after grabbing his own plate. Quill was sitting crossed legged on the couch and Thor dropped down beside him. They ate in silence until Quill broke it.

“So should I be worried about brother dearest bursting in here demanding to know what ‘Paul’ is doing on his couch?”

Thor smiled sadly.

“No. He has taken his holidays this week and is doing some traveling.”

“What, so you’re working the night shift by yourself?”

Thor tried not to laugh at the sound of faint indignation in Quill’s voice.

“No I too am on holiday this week.”

“Aw man, who am I supposed to piss off this week if you’re on holiday?”

“I’m sure you’ll find someone.”

Quill snorted and took another bite.

“So what? You guys can’t go on holidays together?”

“We mourn in different ways.”

They both froze. Thor was cursing himself out inside his head. He hadn’t meant to say that. 

“Mourn?”

“Never mind I shouldn’t have said-”

“No seriously, what did you mean?”

Thor sighed and put his plate on the table, his appetite suddenly gone.

“It’s our mother’s anniversary this week. Nine years tomorrow. We always take our holidays at this time. Loki travels to distract himself.”

“And what do you do?”

Thor smiles sadly in memory.

“My mother was cremated and her ashes scattered so we have no one place to mourn her, but she loved her garden so I go to the park and spend the day there as a way of feeling close to her.”

Quill was staring at the pizza in his hand.

“My mother died when I was eight, today is her anniversary. I usually go out and mourn by getting shit faced and falling into bed with strangers.”

Thor put his hand on Quill’s shoulder.

“I know it never means much when someone says they’re sorry for your loss, even if they knew the person you lost, but I am truly sorry Quill.”

He ignored the fact that Quill cleared his throat and tried to subtly wipe his eyes with the sleeve of Thor’s hoodie.

“I am too. I mean, for you.”

Thor smiled.

“Thank you Quill.”

They returned to silently eating their pizza but something seemed to have shifted. When they were done Thor picked up their plates and put them in the sink to deal with the next day, it was too late for him to be bothered with them now. He looked to where Quill was standing awkwardly with his hands in the pockets of the hoodie. There was a rumble of thunder overhead and Quill swore.

“I’m not looking forward to going back out in that.”

Thor decided to push his luck.

“You could always crash here tonight if you like.”

Quill seemed indecisive.

“Are you sure man? I’ve heard I can be uncomfortable to share a bed with.”

Thor pushed down the pleasure he felt that Quill hadn’t suggested sleeping on the couch or something and snorted.

“Quill, I’ve been inside you, I think I can handle sharing a bed with you.”

Quill laughed but he couldn’t hide the faint flush on his cheeks. A little later they found themselves still wearing most of their clothes and lying on Thor’s ‘bed’ together. Thor was trying to get to sleep but Quill kept moving around. He was facing away from Thor on his side and eventually Thor gave up, rolled onto his side with his arm slung around Quill and pulled him back against him. Quill stiffened almost instinctively and Thor murmured sleepily to him.

“Go to sleep Peter.”

He felt the other man ease up in his arms and slowly relax back into him. Quill managed to fall asleep before he did and Thor fell asleep with a smile on his face.


	15. Steve

A week after Bucky and Steve’s first kiss had passed and Steve was still walking on air. There had also been a number of other firsts since then that Steve didn’t feel was appropriate to think about in the workplace. He also hadn’t mentioned to Sam or anyone that he worked with that he and Bucky were dating now. He wanted a little time with just him and Bucky before he had to listen to everyone else. Unfortunately his peace didn’t last much longer.  
That day he was working the tills while Vision and Clint worked the coffee makers. There was a lull so when Sam walked in Steve and Clint didn’t mind taking time out to talk to him. Vision was talking to Wanda at her usual table so that freed up space for Scott to hang out. He put a plated slice of banana bread down in front of Sam with a smile.

“On the house.”

“Have I ever told you how awesome you are Tic-Tac?”

“You could stand to mention it more.”

Steve looked at the food in confusion.

“Banana bread isn’t on the menu for today is it?”

Scott grinned happily.

“Nope. But Sam usually comes in on Tuesdays so I thought I’d make some just in case.”

Neither Sam nor Scott seemed to find this unusual but one look at Clint told Steve it was causing him physical pain not to say anything. Sam had picked up some of the treat on a fork and was holding it out and trying to convince Scott to try a taste of it when Clint opened his mouth. The door chime rang and Steve shouted ‘Customer!’ before Clint could say anything.

“I don’t think I ever remember you being that excited to see me before.”

Steve smiled brightly when he saw Bucky and forgot about the others.

“Hey Buck, I didn’t expect to see you today. Don’t you have a faculty meeting this morning.”

“Yeah but I thought I should probably drop this off, you left it at mine.”

Steve let out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks. I was worried I’d lost it.”

Bucky grinned at him.

“I’ve really got to go but talk to you later?”

Steve returned the smile.

“Of course.”

They said their goodbyes and Bucky ducked back out of the shop. Steve was still smiling while he was putting his watch on. Pleased to have it back he tuned back into the room. His friends were all staring at him. Steve looked at them in confusion.

“What?”

It was Sam that spoke up.

“Hey Steve, what happened that caused you to forget your watch at Bucky’s?”

Steve looked down at his wrist and realized what he’d done. He promptly turned bright red. Sam threw his arms up in the air.

“Yes! It finally happened!”

Scott was shaking his hand.

“Way to go man.”

Clint was shaking his head in amazement.

“I thought I was going to die of old age before either of you made a move. Nice work Rogers.”

Steve groaned and covered his face. He was never going to live this down. Suddenly a shout from Sam caught his attention.

“Wait, who won the pool Clint?”

Steve stared as Clint whipped out a notebook and began flicking through it, muttering to himself until he found the page he was looking for.

“’Steve and Bucky Getting Together’. Okay, so Steve, when did you and Bucky officially get together?”

“I’m not telling you that!”

“Dude he’s not asking you your favourite sexual position-”

“I’m guessing good old fashioned missionary.”

“-He just needs to know when you admitted your feelings for each other and started dating.”

Knowing he wouldn’t get any peace otherwise Steve sighed.

“A week ago at the fun fair.”

Scott and Sam watched as Clint calculated in his head.

“So you’d known each other for… and you’d been on three dates without realizing it… so that would make it…”

He looked back down at the notebook and swore.

“How does he always do this?”

Scott sighed in disappointment.

“Bruce again?”

“I swear to god he’s actually psychic or something.”

Sam looked interested.

“Has he guessed many before?”

Clint began flicking through the notebook aggressively counting.

“1, 2, 3, 4-”

Scott peeked over his shoulder and gave a start.

“Did I just see my name?”

The notebook snapped shut.

“No.”

Scott regarded him shrewdly.

“Was it about me and Hope?”

Steve saw Sam stand a little straighter out of the corner of his eye. He knew the other man wouldn’t ask so he did.

“Who was Hope?”

Scott turned slightly pink.

“She used to come in here a lot a while back. We hit it off and she eventually moved away so that was that.”

Clint snorted.

“Sure, aside from the fact that you got flustered every time she came in, constantly dropped things when she appeared and turned into a babbling mess. You were so gone on her it was painful. And yes, Bruce won that one as well.”

Scott had become quiet and gestured to the kitchen.

“I better get back in there and make sure I’m not burning anything.”

He gave them a smile and disappeared. Clint noticed Wanda waving him over.

“Be back in a second.”

Steve was left with a quieter Sam who was now poking at the banana bread with little enthusiasm. Eventually he put the fork down and stuck his hands in his jeans pockets.

“You know what man, I’m going to head out, I shouldn’t be keeping you from your work.”

Steve made to protest but his friend was already gone. He frowned. Sam was so insistent that he had no romantic or sexual interest in Scott, but if that was really true he wouldn’t have been so shaken leaving the shop. Steve resolved to call him later and subtly check up on him.  
The rest of his shift flew and soon enough Steve was closing his apartment door behind him with a sigh of relief. There had been a surge of customers at the end and he’d hardly had a moment to breathe. He took a long shower and heated up some leftovers, sat on his couch with a beer and intended to enjoy the game. Halftime had just started when there was a knock on his door. He hadn’t been expecting anybody so he was surprised when he opened the door to see Sam standing there. His friend smiled.

“Hey man, just thought I’d call by. We haven’t had much time to hang out outside of the coffee shop lately.”

Steve smiled and invited him in. He grabbed Sam a beer and they chilled out on the couch waiting for the game to start back. They were talking about the chances of their team winning when Steve cut off abruptly.

“So are we going to keep this up much longer or do you just want to tell me why you’re actually here?”

“What are you talking about?”

He lasted longer than most in the face of Steve Rogers’ patented taking-no-bullshit-look but like everyone else he eventually caved. He sighed and leaned his head back against the couch.

“Okay, so maybe I like Scott a little.”

Steve raised an eyebrow.

“Okay more than a little.”

Silence.

“Fine! So maybe I’m kind of in love with him!”

“Was that so hard?”

Sam glared at him.

“Do you know how much this sucks? I realize I’m attracted to guys only to be attracted to a guy that clearly has no interest in guys.”

Steve couldn’t figure out what to say to that so Sam rubbed a hand over his head and took another swig of beer.

“I’m so fucked.”


	16. Clint

Clint checked the clock briefly while he worked on an order. The Maximoffs should be coming in soon. He handed the customer their drink with a smile then went back to leaning against the till while he waited for another customer to come in. It had been nearly three weeks since he’d found Pietro waiting for him and they’d spent most of their nights together since. He thought back to that first night.

_Pietro clung to his shoulders as Clint kissed his way down the younger man’s neck. He was clearly trying to keep himself quiet but moaned as Clint found his pulse point and began sucking on it. He pulled Clint’s mouth back to his and devoured him. Clint had no complaints other than they were wearing too many clothes. He stopped kissing Pietro only to smile at the sound of protest the younger man made. He quickly removed Pietro’s top before yanking his off over his head and dropping it on the floor. Pietro’s eyes roamed over him with such intensity Clint could practically feel the touch on his bare skin. Then Pietro reached out slowly and let his fingers graze softly against Clint who settled his hands on the other man’s hips and let him have his exploration. They had all night after all. Suddenly a palm was flat against him and moving agonizingly slow. Clint shivered when it brushed against his nipple. The movement stopped and Pietro kept his eyes tied to Clint’s as he leaned forward and a tongue replaced the hand. Clint moved one hand to bury it in Pietro’s hair as he went to work. He pulled the blond strands slightly and received a hum of approval in reply. He shouldn’t be having all the fun. Clint slipped his other hand to the button on Pietro’s jeans and popped it. He made to undo the zip when Pietro jerked back. Clint frowned in concern._

_“We can slow down if you want. We don’t have to do everything tonight.”_

_“I do wish to do it all, I just…”_

_He trailed off and Clint realized he was blushing faintly. His mouth quirked slightly._

_“You going to tell me you’re a virgin?”_

_Pietro stared him down haughtily._

_“I assure you I am not a virgin but I’ve…”_

_He trailed off again and seemed embarrassed. Clint realized what was going on._

_“You’ve never been with a man before have you?”_

_There was a brief pause but Pietro eventually bit his lip and shook his head. Clint smiled reassuringly._

_“Hey there’s nothing wrong with that. Everyone has to start somewhere right? And like I said, we don’t have to go all the way tonight-”_

_He was cut off with a mouth on his and an armful of Pietro. Clint shivered slightly at the feeling of bare skin on bare skin. Pietro came up for air but only moved far enough away to talk. Clint could feel the other man’s breath on his lips. Pietro had a look of determination tinged with desperation on his face._

_“I want to go all the way tonight. I want all of you. I am just not sure what to do.”_

_Clint examined his face and, once he was sure it was what Pietro really wanted, he slid his hands under the other’s thighs and pulled him up so Pietro instinctively wrapped his legs around Clint’s waist. Hands wound their way into the older man’s hair as he carried Pietro towards the bedroom._

_“Let me show you.”_

A throat clearing broke Clint out of his memories and he smiled politely as he took the customer’s order, made it, and handed it out to them. He shook himself slightly as they left again. He really shouldn’t be thinking of this shit at work. It just didn’t help that Pietro had amazing stamina and an unending desire to learn. He was clearly used to taking the lead and doing all the talking in the bedroom. Clint enjoyed finding all the different ways he could leave the kid wrecked and inarticulate. Well, maybe not completely inarticulate, he still managed to say things like; ‘ _yes_ ’, ‘ _please_ ’, ‘ _harder_ ’, and his personal favourite ‘ _Clint!_ ’

  
He decided to start wiping down the counter and some of the tables to have something to do. The Dead Shift was really living up to it’s name today. He’d told Vision to take his break early so the man was already sitting down in his usual spot with his drink and waiting for his girlfriend. He stopped to talk to him and they chatted until the door chime sounded. Clint didn’t even need to turn around to know who’d just walked in, the smile on Vision’s face said it all. Clint huffed a laugh and headed back to the till. He smiled at Wanda when he got there.

“Well look what the cat dragged in.”

Wanda laughed.

“It is good to see you too Clint.”

She elbowed her quiet brother.

“Old man.”

“Brat.”

Wanda sighed but smiled when she saw that Vision was waiting for her. Clint was already working on their usual orders and nodded to her.

“You can go over to him, I’ll give you a call when your drink’s done.”

Wanda smiled in thanks and made her way over to her boyfriend. Clint hummed to himself as he prepared the coffees while Pietro leaned against the pick up counter affecting a disinterested look. He still glared faintly in Vision’s direction. Clint placed the finished drinks in front of the younger man.

“You know I often think it’s a shame I can’t work the night shift.”

Pietro looked at him in confusion.

“And why is that?”

Clint responded softly.

“Because then I could bend you over the counter without having to worry about someone walking in.”

The younger man was immediately flustered and Clint grinned as he called out.

“Wanda your drink is ready!”

She hurried up to the counter to collect her order and looked at Pietro with some concern.

“Are you feeling well brother? You look very flushed.”

Clint turned away so Wanda wouldn’t see him struggling not to laugh. When he turned back Wanda had already rejoined Vision and Pietro was sitting in his usual spot. Clint grabbed himself a coffee and made his way from behind the counter. He sighed when he heard the door chime but his face lit up when he heard a chorus of ‘Daddy!’ He put down his cup just as he was tackled and laughed as he leaned down to hug his kids.

“Well this is a nice surprise! What are you guys doing here?”

“Mom had to go to the shop across the street and said we could run in to say hi!”

“Well I’m glad you did.”

They only stayed for another minute or two, falling over themselves to tell him about their days news. Lila got a call from Laura telling them to come back and Clint hugged them all again before they left promising to call them later. He went with them to the door and smiled as he waved them goodbye. He was looking forward to having them over that weekend.

“They are adorable Clint! You should be very proud.”

He grinned in Wanda’s direction.

“Thanks Wanda, I am.”

Then his eyes landed on Pietro who was staring at him in shock as if he wasn’t sure what he had just seen. Clint’s grin faded slightly.

Shit.


	17. Bruce

Bruce shook his head in amusement as he took in the scene in front of him. Peter and another student were sitting in the corner of the room, the other teenager looking maybe two years older than Peter’s sixteen. Peter was working towards extra credit by working in student services in his school. He tutored any student that needed it and was happy to do it. That the student he was currently helping was older than him wasn’t what amused Bruce. The fact that the other guy sat there every day watching Peter work with a look of adoration on his face was what did it. Bruce had kept an eye on them the first day they had come in and had pegged the guy as a bit of an asshole. He paid no attention to what Peter was saying and spent most of the time hurling sugar packets and other projectiles at customers with unnerving accuracy.  


The next day they came in started the same way and Bruce was just getting ready to approach them when Peter kicked the legs of the chair the older boy was sitting on out from under him. There had been a yelp and crash that the other customers seemed to appreciate. The other guy stood up to his not inconsiderable height and leaned over Peter with a pissed off expression on his face. Peter met it with an equally pissed off look and had laid into him. It was busy that day so Bruce couldn’t hear what was being said, but when Peter gestured to the fallen chair the other righted it and sat down. Peter resumed his lesson as if nothing had happened and the older boy had begun to look at him in awe. By the end of the day Bruce was pretty sure the kid was smitten. The following day found them in the same place but the older kid was actually doing work. He asked for help sometimes but Bruce was pretty sure he didn’t need it because he spent the whole time Peter was explaining the solution to him staring dreamily at him.  
The fact that Peter mostly seemed oblivious to this added to the entertainment for Bruce. They seemed to be packing up for the day so Bruce walked up to the table. They were talking and didn’t notice him at first.

“I’m telling you, you should come to the party tonight. I can show you my amazing keg-stand superpower!”

“Once again, I’m underage. For that matter you’re underage.”

“Baby boy you’re breaking my heart.”

He even had his hand clutched to his chest in an overly dramatic manner. Peter rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think anyone will notice if I’m not there.”

“I will! It’s no fun if you’re not there Petey.”

Peter flushed and Bruce chose that moment to clear his throat. Peter smiled when he saw him and the other guy narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

“Is this guy the competition?”

“For the last time. There. Is. No. Competition.”

The guy grinned.

“So what you’re saying is the way is clear for me?”

Bruce could see Peter fighting another blush.

“Shouldn’t you be going?”

The older boy picked up his bag and skipped towards the door. He turned at the last second and blew a kiss.

“See you tomorrow baby boy.”

Peter emphasized the ‘goodbye’ when he responded.

“Goodbye Wade.”

The door slammed behind him and Bruce tried not to laugh as Peter let out a sigh and slid down in his chair.

“Is he always like that?”

“Pretty much. It’s exhausting.”

Bruce noticed the fondness in his tone and made a note to check into that later.

“Well I just wanted to check that things were okay so I’d better get back to work.”

“Wait!”

Peter twiddled his thumbs and seemed embarrassed.

“I hate to ask you this Dr. B but dad can’t pick me up tonight. He normally sends the car when he can’t but Happy crashed it so it’s getting fixed and dad doesn’t like me getting public transport by myself because I’ve been harassed on it before so I guess I was just wondering if you could give me a lift home?”

He looked so awkward Bruce took pity on him.

“Sure. If you don’t mind hanging around for a bit I can drop you home after my shift.”

Peter’s face lit up.

“Thanks Dr. B!”

The rest of his shift flew by and soon enough Peter was buckling himself into the passenger’s seat of Bruce’s well worn car. He typed the address into his GPS and they were on their way. Peter kept up a steady stream of conversation and Bruce debated some scientific points over and back with him so the time flew. The house was on a private estate just outside the city and Peter had to use the intercom to get them access to the house. They eventually reached the end of the seemingly never ending driveway and Bruce’s eyes widened. The house, well really it was a mansion, rose up and expanded in all directions. Bruce was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that he hadn’t had his car washed in a while. Peter was grinning at him.

“Do you want to come in and see my lab? It’s really awesome!”

Bruce huffed a laugh. Of course Peter had his own lab.

“It’s nice of you to ask but I think-”

“Please Dr. B?”

Bruce made the mistake of looking at Peter’s puppy dog eyes and gave a sigh.

“Fine. But just a quick look.”

“Awesome!”

Bruce followed him up the front steps and took a deep breath before entering. He was surprised when he saw the interior. He had been expected something lavish and expensive, with maybe way too much marble. But… it just felt like a home. There were family pictures everywhere interspersed with framed pictures clearly painted by Peter when he was a kid. The teenager in question kicked off his shoes and did a sock slide across the wooden floor before dumping his bag at the bottom of a frankly enormous staircase. There was the sound of plates and cutlery coming from one of the rooms off the foyer. A voice called out from there.

“You better not have dumped your bag on the floor Pete.”

Peter guiltily picked up his bag and hung it off the end of the banister while Bruce tried to catch his breath. He had assumed Tony would be at work. He was still struggling to compose himself when Peter called back.

“We have a guest dad!”

Bruce could hear Tony approaching.

“It better not be that Wilson kid you’re tutoring, I’ve told you he’s too old for you.”

Peter blushed and whined.

“Daaaad.”

Tony froze when he entered the foyer and Bruce was pretty sure he himself looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Bruce? What are you-”

“I asked him if I could show him my lab! Can I?”

Tony moved his attention back to his son.

“Your dinner’s ready.”

“Cool, Dr. B can stay for dinner and then I’ll show him after. You’ll stay right?”

“I’m sure Bruce has other things-”

“I don’t mind. If it’s not too much trouble that is.”

A smile started to grow on Tony’s face.

“No trouble at all.”

“So what are we having?”

Peter was already heading into the kitchen and Bruce and Tony followed him after sharing a smile. Tony informed Bruce that at least once a week he made dinner and they just hung out in the kitchen to eat it.

“So no fancy formal dining room tonight I’m afraid.”

“Thank god.”

Bruce was mortified when he realized he’d said that out loud but Tony grinned him.

“I agree wholeheartedly.” 

By the time they reached the kitchen table Peter had already loaded up another plate with spaghetti bolognas for Bruce and set him a place. He waited for them to sit down before tucking in to his own. Bruce felt awkward at first but Peter and Tony soon had him at ease. He laughed when Peter described a minor explosion in the school lab with a huge sweep of his arm and ended up splattering sauce all over the wall. He didn’t notice and Tony just rolled his eyes fondly. Sometimes Bruce would catch Tony looking at him with a soft expression on his face and Bruce could feel his hand itching to reach out for him but he just ducked his head and continued eating. He eventually brought up something that was concerning him.

“I just wanted to ask if your driver was alright?”

Tony looked at him in confusion.

“What?”

“I heard he was in a crash in your car.”

Tony laughed.

“Happy is the most careful driver I’ve ever had. I’m pretty sure he’s never been in an accident. Who told you that?”

Bruce looked to Peter and Tony followed his line of sight to see the teenager trying to slide subtly out of his seat.

“I just remembered I left my bag on the foyer floor, I better go pick it up!”

He moved to dive out of the kitchen when he froze at his father’s voice.

“Sit back down Peter.”

Peter ducked his head guiltily and sat back down. Tony fixed him with a stern look.

“Why did you tell Bruce Happy was in a crash?”

Peter worried his lip before confessing.

“I wanted him to come over. I really like Dr. B and I know you do too. The two of you always look so happy when you’re talking together I thought it’d be cool for you to be able to talk together outside of the coffee shop. You’re like two of the smartest people in the world so I figured you’d have a lot in common too. Am I in trouble?”

Bruce was struggling to keep from flushing when Tony responded.

“You shouldn’t have lied to Bruce Pete but, just this once, I’m not going to punish you for it.”

Peter brightened and returned to finishing his dinner with gusto. Bruce ducked his head and resumed eating while trying to avoid looking at Tony. Peter didn’t seem to notice his embarrassment. The teenager finished his food in record time and, after stowing his plate in the dish washer, stood at the table smiling at Bruce.

“Do you want to see my lab now Dr. B?”

“Let Bruce finish his food and then you can show him your lab, okay?”

“Sure. I’ll go and make sure nothing dangerous is out!”

Tony called out after Peter as he ran out of the kitchen.

“There shouldn’t be anything dangerous down there anyway!”

He received no response and let out a sigh of defeat.

“I really need to implement a ‘do as I say and not as I do’ protocol.”

Tony smiled at Bruce who offered a strained one in return. Tony’s smile dimmed slightly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Seriously Bruce, what’s wrong?”

Bruce sighed and put down his fork.

“Am I that obvious when I’m around you?”

“Obvious?”

Bruce looked at him with raised eyebrows. He could see Tony considering what he might mean before his face cleared and he laughed.

“I think Pete might have been picking up on my repressed desires not yours.”

“I don’t recall yours ever being repressed.”

Tony grinned unapologetically and Bruce rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to his dinner. A hand reached out and grasped his. He looked up to see a concerned looking Tony.

“I know we never stated what exactly is going on between us but I can guarantee that nothing non-platonic has even occurred to Peter. But if it’ll make you feel better I can talk to him.”

Bruce considered the offer but realized that he was probably just overreacting. He turned his hand over so he could return the hold Tony had and quirked a smile at him.

“Don’t worry about it. I guess I’m just feeling a little embarrassed at the thought that a teenage boy was trying to push us together.”

“Shipping.”

Bruce threw him a look of confusion.

“What?”

“I think the current term is ‘shipping’. Whatever you do don’t ask Peter to explain it. I made that mistake and had to sit through a PowerPoint presentation. I’m not joking, there were pie charts involved and an in depth discussion about Tumblr.”

Bruce started laughing and felt his heart skip when he saw the faint look of awe on Tony’s face, as if he couldn’t believe he had made Bruce laugh. Bruce ducked his head a little when Tony lifted his hand to his mouth and placed a soft kiss there. The other man gave him a soft smile and went back to eating without ever letting go of Bruce’s hand. The former scientist ached. He wanted so much. He wanted all of Tony, all that he would give him, but knew that he would need to do the same in return. He wasn’t sure what scared him more at this point, what that would mean, or the fact that he wanted to do it anyway.


	18. Thor

“Do you have someone who can come and pick you up?”

“I can surely get a taxi or bus home?”

The doctor shook her head as she filled in the form in front of her.

“For something like this, and considering your injuries, we prefer to know that someone will collect you and get you home. I can’t release you tonight otherwise.”

Thor swore under his breath as he pulled out his phone which was miraculously intact. He flicked into his recents list and brought up his brother’s number. He hesitated. Loki would already be getting ready for work and he didn’t want to call him. Loki would try and play it off as if he wasn’t worried but he would be freaking out. He would rather let him go to work so he had time to go home and get cleaned up before his brother saw him so it hopefully wouldn’t look as bad. The only problem was he couldn’t think of someone else he’d be willing to let pick him up at the hospital.  


Wait.  


He went into his contacts list and found the one simply titled ‘Q’. He and Quill had traded numbers to make it easier to organize their meet ups. He doubted this was what Quill had in mind when he gave Thor his number. His thumb hovered over the number momentarily before he gave in and tapped it. He lifted the phone to his ear with a wince and waited for the call to be picked up. He was just about to give up hope when he heard the other man’s voice.

“Sort of busy here.”

Thor swore when he heard the music in the background. Of course the band would be rehearsing.

“Shit, sorry Quill, I didn’t- I shouldn’t- I didn’t think-”

There must have been something in his tone because Quill told him to hold on. A couple of seconds passed and suddenly the music was muted.

“Well Odinson what do you want, ‘cos if it’s to call about meeting up I’m tied up tonight and not in the fun way.”

Thor sighed and tried to raise his hand to rub his face but hissed.

“Hey man are you okay?”

If Thor didn’t know better he’d say he sounded worried. He took a breath as he waited for the flash of pain to pass.

“It’s fine. I just needed someone to pick me up from somewhere.”

“And your emo brother’s unavailable?”

“He will be on his way to work now and I didn’t wish to worry him.”

“Why would he be worried?”

Silence.

“Where are you?”

A pause.

“The hospital.”

“The hospital? What the hell happened?!”

“Nothing major, but the doctor is refusing to let me leave the premises without someone to collect me.”

“Which hospital?”

Thor told him.

“I’ll be there in fifteen. I’ll call you when I’m there.”

Before Thor could protest Quill had already hung up. Thor put the phone back in his pocket and waved a hand to gain the attention of the doctor that had moved away to a discreet distance. She moved over to him with a smile.

“Were you able to contact someone?”

“Yes, he will be here shortly.”

“Excellent. Here’s a prescription for some painkillers, I would suggest that you get it filled as soon as possible.”

She handed him another piece of paper.

“This is an appointment for a check up, we’ll want to make sure that everything’s healing as it should be.”

Thor thanked her as she received a summons to another patient and left him with a smile. He made his way into the waiting room to wait for Quill. True to his word, fifteen minutes later Thor got a text from Quill telling him he was outside. He heaved himself out of the seat and made his way to the front entrance. He shivered a little in the cold night air as he scanned for Quill. A loud honk brought his attention to the pickup truck Quill was leaning out the window of. Thor rolled his eyes. Of course he drove a pickup. He made his way over as fast as he could ducking his head and hoping the night hid most of his injuries. He used his free hand to swing inside and slam the door behind him. 

“What the actual fuck Thor? I thought you said it was nothing major!”

“You’re holding up the loading zone.”

True enough as cars behind them were beginning to honk at them. Quill swore up a storm but started up the truck and drove out of the hospital grounds.

“What the hell happened to you?”

Thor shrugged then winced.

“I was running in the park at the edge of town and didn’t see how late it had gotten. Knowing the bus would take too long to get me back for work in time I simply called an Uber. Which unfortunately then found itself in a collision with another vehicle.”

Thor realized something and swore as he pulled his phone and made a call.

“Why are you bothering me when you should be at work?”

“Sorry for the late notice Fury but I’m unable to get to work tonight. I’m extremely sick.”

There was an annoyed sigh on the other end of the line.

“Fine. I’ll get someone to cover your shift, but don’t let this happen again.”

“Of course. Sorry.”

He could hear his boss swearing as he hung up the phone.

“Motherf-”

Thor sighed in relief now that that was over with. Honestly it could have gone so much worse. Fury didn’t suffer fools gladly. He tipped his head back against the seat and closed his eyes.

“Are you allowed sleep? Like, you don’t have a concussion or anything right?”

Thor opened his eyes and straightened up slightly.

“No they said there was no worry there, my facial injuries are mostly superficial.”

“They don’t look superficial.”

Thor took note of Quill’s doubtful tone with a grin.

“Is that your way of telling me that you won’t find me attractive anymore if they scar?”

Quill snorted.

“Oh please, they’ll probably end up making you even sexier knowing you.”

Thor couldn’t help the shit eating grin on his face as he put his phone back in his pocket. He heard a crinkling and pulled the forgotten prescription out of his pocket. He frowned at it.

“Do you know any 24 hour pharmacies around here?”

Quill threw him a look of confusion.

“Sure, why?”

“I need to get painkillers and I have a feeling I would prefer to have them when I wake up in the morning.”

Quill brought them down a few streets before pulling into a parking lot in front of a brightly lit pharmacy. He turned off the truck and held out his hand.

“Give me the prescription and I’ll go in for it.”

“I can-”

“I’m not risking your battered ass not being able to get back into my truck, so just give me the damn paper so you can get home.”

Thor muttered but handed it over. The door slammed behind Quill and Thor sighed and closed his eyes again. He’d been warned that the painkillers they gave him in the hospital might make him sleepy and he found himself lightly dozing until the sound of the truck door closing jerked him awake again. Quill threw the bag on the dash before starting up the truck and continuing on to Thor’s place. Thor let out a sigh of relief when they finally reached their destination. He climbed out and headed towards the front door of the apartment block but turned in surprise when he realized that Quill was following him in. The other man shrugged.

“I’m just making sure you make it in to your actual apartment in one piece so I don’t have to listen to your brother bitching if you collapse on the way there.”

Thor shook his head in amusement but continued on. Once the apartment door was closed behind them he let out a sigh of relief and sank down on the couch. It didn’t occur to him that Quill hadn’t sat down too until a glass of water was being handed to him. He looked up to see Quill standing in front of him also holding out two white tablets.

“The dude in the pharmacy said you should probably take two as the stuff they gave you in the hospital was probably starting to wear off.”

Thor wasn’t going to argue, he was already beginning to feel tender, so he took the pills with the water and let out a sigh. He reluctantly stood back up and headed for the bathroom.

“I’m going to try and wash some of the dirt and blood off before Loki comes home.”

When he was in the bathroom he started to try to clean up but it was hard to do it one handed. He glared at the sling his left arm was in. Suddenly the cloth was taken out of his hand.

“Let me do it or you’ll be here all night.”

At some point Quill had taken off his jacket and now he looked around the bathroom.

“Sit down.”

Thor obediently sat on the edge of the bath while Quill ran the cloth under water. He started to wipe around the cuts on Thor’s face first. He was surprisingly gentle. Thor watched him frown in concentration as he worked. Thor only winced once or twice when he dabbed around the butterfly stitches over his eyebrow. The cut on his cheek wasn’t that bad so it didn’t hurt as much.  
When Quill was happy with the face he moved onto the cut on his forearm on his free arm. It hadn’t needed stitches but it had hurt like a bitch. Quill washed the cloth and started working on it. Somehow he had avoided cutting his left arm but Quill checked what he could see of it around the bandage anyway.

“How badly is your arm fucked up?”

“It’s just a bad sprain, I have to take it easy for a couple of weeks.”

Quill nodded.

“Any more cuts?”

Thor shook his head.

“No, I’m just going to be bruised for a little while. I have an appointment for next week to go back to the hospital for a check up to make sure I’m healing up so I should be fine.”

Quill nodded again and washed out the cloth. Thor told him to dump it in the laundry basket and they both headed out of the bathroom. Thor yawned so wide he cracked his jaw. Quill grinned.

“I’m guessing it’s bedtime for the big bad Thor.”

Thor smiled ruefully.

“I cannot wait to get some sleep.”

He frowned as he looked at the sling but Quill seemed to know what he was thinking.

“I’ll help you get changed before I go.”

He was already inside Thor’s room before the other could object. He waited for Thor to pull out his sleep shorts and t-shirt before he helped Thor strip off what he was wearing.

“You know, getting you out of your clothes is usually a lot more fun than this.”

Thor laughed and Quill grinned at him. Aside from some awkwardness with the sprained wrist they managed to get him changed fairly easily. Quill announced that he was going to head out and Thor insisted on seeing him to the door even though Quill insisted he didn’t need to. They were standing at the door and Quill had pulled his jacket back on. 

“I left the painkillers on the table in the kitchen, you should take two more when you get up tomorrow.”

Thor couldn’t help himself. He dipped his head slightly and kissed Quill. The other man was startled for a second before kissing him back. Thor slid his free hand into Quill’s hair and kissed him slowly. He pulled back to gaze at a slightly stunned Quill.

“What was that for?”

“For helping me when you didn’t have to.”

“Dude I was hardly going to leave you hanging around the hospital.”

Thor quirked a smile and Quill cleared his throat.

“Well I should go. I’ll see you.”

“Goodbye Peter.”

Quill paused a second before leaving. Thor locked the door and headed back to his room and dropping carefully onto the mattress. Quill could deny it all he wanted but he’d been worried about him. Thor thought about the careful way he had taken care of him and smiled. He ignored the thought that this would just complicate their arrangement in favor of savoring their kiss. He then remembered that he would have to face Loki in the morning and explain the accident and gave a groan before rolling over and drifting off to sleep.


	19. Steve

They had a busy day in the coffee shop and Steve was trying to keep up. He was taking orders and passing the cups to Bruce at an alarming speed. Apparently there was a convention on down the street and it had let out for lunch. He did raise his eyes a little at the name of the current order. He had heard that Tony Stark came into the shop but had never seen him before. He passed the cup to Bruce who dutifully made the order. Steve kept an eye on him as he took more orders. He saw the moment Bruce read the name on the cup. His whole face lit up and he looked at the pick up counter when Stark was grinning back at him. Bruce smiled at him as he handed over the cup. They exchanged some words that Steve couldn’t make out before Stark left the counter to take a seat. Bruce went back to filling out orders with the smile still in place.  
Steve had watched the interaction with interest. Clint had told him that Stark was always flirting with Bruce when he came in and Bruce took it with good humor. Judging by the smile on his face he wasn’t completely immune to the flirting. A customer caught Steve’s attention and he went back to taking orders. When the next customer approached the counter Steve smiled brightly.

“Hey Bucky!”

Bucky returned the smile.

“Hi Steve, you seem to be swept off your feet today.”

“Tell me about it. If it gets any quieter I’ll try and get over to your table.”

“Here’s hoping.”

They smiled at each other again as Steve passed the cup to Bruce and Bucky moved over to the pick up counter. A little while later there was finally a lull in customers. There was no one else coming in and Steve felt like he could finally breathe again. He looked over to where Bucky was sitting absorbed in a book. He still couldn’t believe he actually got to be with him, that Bucky wanted him as much as he wanted him. Steve felt so comfortable around him. Sometimes they sat together with Bucky reading a book or correcting papers and Steve drawing. In those moments Steve felt truly content, like this was what he had been looking for.  


He absentmindedly looked around the room and his eyes landed on Stark who seemed to be caught up in his phone. However, Steve noticed that every so often his eyes flickered over to where Bruce was cleaning up. He would have thought nothing of it except that he caught Bruce returning the looks. He obviously wanted to go over to the man but Steve knew enough about Bruce to know that he wouldn’t make the first move. Steve picked up a cup and started making the order as he remembered it. When he was done he handed it to a confused Bruce.

“This is on the house for the customer in the far corner.”

Bruce didn’t need to look to know who was sitting there. He gave Steve a suspicious look.

“Why am I bringing it over?”

Steve simply raised his eyebrows and gave him a knowing look. Bruce flushed slightly but took the cup. He was just walking out from behind the counter when Steve called out to him.

“By the way you can take your break now too.”

Bruce threw him an embarrassed smile but didn’t argue. Steve watched as he approached Stark. The other man smiled and gestured to the other seat at the table until Bruce sat down. Steve shook his head with a smile. He regretted that he wouldn’t be able to take his break now but he liked helping his friends so he didn’t feel too bad. Especially when Bucky decided to come up to the counter with his coffee.

“Playing matchmaker?”

“Just helping a friend.”

Bucky looked amused and took a sip of his drink while Steve leaned against the counter. Bucky spoke again.

“There’s a photography exhibition of World War II era stuff in a gallery downtown tomorrow and I was wondering if you wanted to go? I know you’re interested in that time period.”

“I’d love to, it sounds fascinating. I wonder who the photographer was?”

Bucky gave him a too innocent look.

“Oh just some guy named Erskine.”

Steve’s jaw dropped as Bucky grinned.

“Are you fucking serious?”

“Why, do you like him or something?”

Steve just stared as Bucky continued to look pleased with himself. He’d told Bucky ages ago that Erskine was in his opinion one of the greatest wartime photographers of all time. He couldn’t believe he’d remembered.

“You’re getting so lucky later.”

Bucky laughed.

“Good to know.”

They chatted for another while before Bucky saw the time and said he had to get back to the college. He told Steve he’d call him later and left with a smile. Steve was still smiling like an idiot when he was gone, so much so that he didn’t notice the other man appear at his elbow and jumped when he talked.

“So things are going well then?”

He looked at the grinning Scott and rubbed the back of his neck bashfully.

“Yeah, they are. Honestly I don’t remember the last time I was this happy in a relationship.”

Scott put a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m happy for you man, we all are. Even if I didn’t win the pool.”

Steve rolled his eyes good naturedly as Scott dropped his hand. The baker started to put some new pastries out from the tray he’d brought from the kitchen. It had been so busy this was the second time he was restocking. When he was finished he turned to Steve and casually spoke.

“I haven’t seen Sam around lately, is everything okay?”

Steve stared at him blankly trying to think of an excuse. Sam had been avoiding the shop ever since he had admitted to Steve that he had feelings for Scott. It was the second week he was absent and hadn’t made a visit. Steve couldn’t help noticing that every time Sam would normally be at the shop to visit Steve Scott had found some reason to come out from the kitchen. He always looked disappointed before covering it and going back into the kitchen. Maybe he was just reading into it too much but he hoped it was a good sign.

“He’s just been really busy at work.”

Scott nodded but seemed a little deflated.

“Of course. That’s good though, always good to be busy.”

Scott was sliding the edge of the tray around in his hands. Steve felt the need to offer him something.

“I’m sure things will wind down soon enough and he’ll be back.”

The other man looked a little hopeful at that and nodded towards the kitchen.

“Speaking of work I’d better get back to mine.”

As he watched him disappear through the door Steve made a promise to himself that he was going to get Sam to visit the coffee shop even if he had to drag him there himself.  
When he was finished work for the day he drove his bike over to Sam’s in determination. Sam opened the door with a smile.

“Hey man, I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Just thought I’d call over. Don’t want you thinking I’ll forget all about you now that I’m dating someone now do I?”

Sam laughed and closed the door behind them. Steve hung up his jacket and made his way to the couch. He dropped down onto it beside Sam and threw a cursory glance at the TV. He snorted a laugh when he saw The Great British Bake Off was on. Sam had never managed to bake anything without something catching fire but he was addicted to the show.

“So how’s Bucky?”

Steve couldn’t help the smile on his face.

“He’s great. We’re going to a photography exhibit tomorrow, he found a place that’s showing Erskine’s work.”

Sam’s eyebrows raised.

“So what you’re saying is he’s a smooth bastard?”

Steve laughed.

“He is that.”

They kept up the conversation for a while until Steve had to give in.

“You need to start coming back to the coffee shop.”

Sam suddenly found the wall interesting.

“I told you I would.”

“Yeah but that was two weeks ago and there’s only so many times I’ll be able to tell people you’re busy at work.”

Sam snorted.

“I doubt people notice I’m not there.”

“Clint asked where you were, he said it’s no fun teasing me by himself.”

Sam snorted again.

“I believe that.”

Steve hesitated.

“Scott was asking about you today.”

Sam said nothing for a moment.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. He’s been looking for you since you stopped calling in. I’m trying not to read much into it, but he misses you.”

Sam picked up his beer and took a swig out of it as Paul Hollywood shook someones hand on the TV. When he lowered the bottle he stared at the label.

“I just don’t know what to do now. It was fine when I was in denial but now…”

Steve felt he had to point something out.

“Look, we don’t know he’s not interested in men just because he liked women in the past. Don’t you think it would be better to find out for sure?”

Hope settled on Sam’s face.

“I guess you’re right. But how do I find that out? It’s not like I can just say to him, ‘Hey how are you, do you like men?’ I’m pretty sure that’s out.”

“Yeah let’s save that as a last resort.”

Sam sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. Steve felt for him. He still remembered what it felt like to be pining over Bucky convinced nothing would ever happen. That’s why he wanted to help out Sam, he honestly believed it would be better to just know one way or another if there was a chance.

“I can try and sound him out if you want.”

Sam looked over at him.

“Seriously, you’d do that?”

“Of course, what are friends for?”

Sam gave him a small smile. Steve hung around for another while and watched people bake while Sam made scathing remarks about their sponges. Eventually he decided to head home. When he was finally back at his place he grabbed a beer and relaxed on the couch with the TV muted as he made a call. He smiled when it was picked up.

“This is your prearranged call to remind you to stop working and go to bed because you have an early class to teach in the morning.”

“Thank god I have an excuse to stop marking. I was starting to get a hand cramp.”

Steve huffed a laugh.

“So anything interesting happen today?”

While Steve knew Sam liked Bucky from the little he had seen of him he didn’t think he’d want him to share his relationship problems with him.

“Well there was a woman who came in to the shop with a tiny dog she was wearing matching fur coats with and tried to order them both coffee.” 

He heard Bucky laugh.

“Oh you’ve got to tell me what happened.”

Steve grinned as he recounted the incident to his laughing boyfriend. Right now he really loved his life.


	20. Clint

It took a couple of days of Pietro avoiding him before Clint decided to take the initiative. They had traded numbers after their first night together and Clint had been sure he would only hear from Pietro when he wanted to meet up but he’d been proved wrong. At first Clint was sure the funny cat videos were being sent to annoy him but the thought of Pietro actually looking them up had made him laugh. Then Pietro had starting texting random thoughts and things about his day. Clint had responded by sending smart assed comments about ridiculous stuff that happened in the shop. Clint would often wake up in the morning to find a whole slew of random texts if Pietro hadn’t stayed the night. Pietro was working on a Masters Degree so he was usually up working at all hours. Which made it highly suspicious that there had been no texts over the last few days. While he was on his break that day he tried calling Pietro but he didn’t pick up. Then he sent him a text.

‘ _You can’t just avoid me forever. At least talk to me_.’

He was working the counter when Wanda came in. Alone again. He smiled at her as he wrote down the order and passed the cup to Vision.

“How are things?”

She returned the smile as she looked away from Vision.

“Things are very well thank you Clint.”

He threw out the next comment casually.

“No sign of your brother for the past few days.”

Now she had a worried look on her face.

“Pietro has not been himself. There is clearly something on his mind but he will not tell me what it is. I worry about him.”

“I’m sure it’ll sort itself out.”

“I hope so.”

She gave him a small smile as she moved away to collect her drink. He nodded at Vision that he could go and sit with her, the shop was quiet after all. He watched them sitting together and happily chatting. He felt a pang at the sight. Clint spent the rest of the day keeping an eye on his phone but there were no messages from the one person he wanted them from. By the time he got home that night he was done. If Pietro wasn’t going to step up then he was just going to have to annoy him into responding to him. It shouldn’t be too hard, it was one of Clint’s talents. Clint made himself comfortable on the couch and dialed Pietro’s number. It rang and rang until the voice-mail picked up. Clint hung up and immediately redialed. It rang and rang until the voice-mail picked up. Clint hung up and immediately redialed. This went on for a solid five minutes before the phone was picked up.

“Stop calling old man.”

The line went dead again. He dialed Pietro’s number again. It rang and rang until the voice-mail picked up. Clint hung up and immediately redialed. He knew that patience wasn’t exactly Pietro’s strong suit so he didn’t expect him to last as long this time around.  
He lasted three minutes.  
As soon as he heard the call pick up Clint spoke.

“I’m just going to keep calling until you talk to me kid.”

There was an aggravated sigh from the other end.

“What do you want?”

“To talk to you.”

“We are talking now are we not? Is that all?”

“You know what I mean Pietro. Just tell me you’re freaked out that I have kids instead of avoiding me.”

Silence.

“Look, I get that it might seem like a lot which is why I hadn’t brought it up yet. We haven’t known each other that long and I sort of wasn’t ready to share them just yet. But I… could we just talk about it? Please?”

Clint waited for a reply. He could admit to himself that he didn’t want Pietro to run. He liked him. A lot. Probably more than he should considering they had never really talked about what they were doing.

“What are their names?”

“What?”

“Your children. What are their names?”

Clint smiled slightly.

“Lila, Nate and Cooper. I love them more than I ever thought possible.”

“But you are not with their mother anymore?”

Clint sighed.

“No. I still care about Laura but we realized that somewhere down the line we fell out of love with each other. We work better now as friends.”

There was silence for a moment before Pietro spoke again.

“We have known each other for over a month and have been sleeping together for most of that time. Why have you never mentioned your children before? Would you ever have told me?”

Clint realized that the emotion he hadn’t been able to distinguish in Pietro’s voice was hurt. He scrubbed a hand through his hair as he swore to himself.

“I didn’t tell you because… because honestly, I thought you’d run a mile if you found out. I thought you’d realize you were sleeping with a forty-nine year old man with three kids and decide that that wasn’t for you. And I can’t say I’d blame you.”

There was silence on the line again and Clint tipped his head back against the couch and closed his eyes. Whatever happened next was up to Pietro.

“You have the stamina of a much younger man.”

Clint barked a surprised laugh. Pietro kept talking.

“I thought you had not told me because, because you did not want me in that part of your life. That I was just…”

He trailed off and Clint had the uncomfortable feeling he had misstepped somewhere along the way. He sat up.

“I’m coming over.”

“What? You cannot! Wanda will be home soon.”

Clint let out a sound of frustration as he scrubbed a hand across his face.

“Then you need to come over here.”

“I’m not-”

“Pietro. Either you come over here so we can talk or I go over there and you explain my presence to Wanda.”

“Fine! I will be there shortly.”

He hung up the phone and Clint dropped his onto the couch beside him. He got up and poured himself a glass of whiskey. He felt like he might need it for the conversation he was going to have. Clint leaned against the counter sipping his drink and trying to figure out what to say to Pietro. He had realized when they were talking that Pietro thought he was just some fun to Clint, that Clint viewed him as someone to fuck and that was all. He was still trying to sort out his thoughts when there was a knock on his door. Steeling himself he put down his drink and opened the door. A scowling Pietro walked past him and into the apartment. Clint shut the door behind him. Pietro turned to him.

“So what-”

Pietro cut himself off when he found himself in Clint’s arms. Clint held him tightly and pressed his face against his neck.

“I missed you brat.”

He felt Pietro relax slightly as his arms wrapped around Clint’s waist.

“I missed you too old man.”

After another moment Clint raised his head and relaxed his hold without letting go. He looked into Pietro’s eyes and saw confusion and wariness there. Clint mentally cursed himself for causing it.

“I’m sorry.”

The look of wariness intensified.

“What are you sorry for?”

“For making you think you mean less to me than you do.”

The younger man’s brow furrowed and Clint continued.

“We’ve only been together for what, four weeks? And already I hate waking up and not having you there. I hate not being able to give you shit about how much sugar you put in your coffee in the morning. I hate that I’m so afraid of scaring you off that I kept you hidden from the rest of my life. I hate that I hurt you and I’m scared that I’ve pushed you away.”

Pietro looked stunned and Clint was afraid he’d said to much. Suddenly Pietro surged forward and Clint didn’t hesitate to kiss him back. Pietro’s hands were in his hair and holding him close. Clint wrapped his arms around his waist tightly. If this was a goodbye he was going to make the most out of it. Finally Clint pulled back. Pietro leaned in to kiss him again but Clint stopped him with a small smile.

“As much as I’m enjoying this, I really need to know what you’re thinking.”

Pietro frowned slightly as he absentmindedly played with the hair on the back of Clint’s head. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts before eventually speaking.

“I will not lie, I was ‘freaked out’ when I saw that you had children. Then I thought that perhaps it was not my business as we were only having sex. But…”

He looked unsure about what he was going to say.

“But then I was hurt that you had never mentioned them to me. They are obviously very important to you and it felt as though you did not tell me because _I_ was not important to you.”

He looked faintly embarrassed about what he had said. Clint felt like shit.

“I am so sorry I made you feel that way Pietro. I can only say that I didn’t mean to. I was so scared that you’d want out if you found out more about my life that I was a selfish bastard and kept you to myself.”

Pietro met his eyes.

“Do you truly care about me?”

“I do.”

“Do you want something more serious with me?”

“With every fiber of my being.”

A slow smile slid across Pietro’s face.

“I would like that too. On one condition.”

“What?”

“We keep it to ourselves a little bit longer, until I can figure out how to break it to Wanda.”

Clint laughed.

“Good luck with that. But I agree. However long you want.”

“Good. I am pretty sure you can help me out with what I want right now too.”

Pietro kept eye contact as he stepped back, grabbed one of Clint’s hands and walked backwards towards the bedroom with a cheeky grin. Clint returned it with a grin of his own.

“Well I do like to be helpful.”


	21. Bruce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is going up so late! I was moving this last week and then I was sick, so hectic and annoying really X( Hope this chapter makes up for it!

Bruce hummed to himself as he worked on the order. It was a busy day but it wasn’t bothering him. He finished the order and moved to the pick up counter as he checked the name. He smiled as he slid the drink towards Peter. The teenager grinned at him.

“Hey Dr. B! Same time same place?”

Bruce laughed and nodded as Peter made his way over to his usual spot. He was still smiling when he returned to his spot at the machine.

“I’m guessing the kid still hasn’t realized you want to get down and dirty with his dad then?”

Bruce sighed.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Clint.”

Clint leaned back and shouted as he continued to expertly make the drink he was working on.

“Scott!”

The man in question came running out of the kitchen.

“What?”

“I’m busy, could you get a dollar off Bruce for the Delusion Jar please?”

Scott looked amused as he picked up the jar while Bruce stared at Clint in disbelief. The man weaved past him to hand out an order.

“Why does he think you need to pay up?”

“He said I want to have sex with Peter’s dad and I said I don’t.”

“Who’s Peter’s dad?”

Clint replied as he breezed past.

“Tony Stark.”

Scott replied.

“Oh.”

Then shook the Delusion Jar at Bruce. When Bruce glared at him he simply raised an eyebrow. After some swearing and a delve in his pocket, Bruce tossed a dollar into the jar. Scott studied it for a moment.

“You know if we don’t empty it out soon there won’t be any room left in it.”

Clint grinned.

“We have Steve and Bruce to thank for that.”

Bruce ignored him and got on with his job. When his break rolled around he grabbed a coffee and a sandwich and headed over to where Peter was studying. The boy was buried in his work and didn’t notice Bruce until he was sitting down across from him. He looked up and smiled when he saw who it was.

“I don’t suppose you could look over my work and tell me why it’s not doing what it’s supposed to?”

Bruce held out his hand with a smile.

“Hand it over.”

Bruce took a cursory look and saw right away where Peter was going wrong. He turned the book back to Peter.

“Walk me through what you’re doing.”

Peter launched into his explanation and Bruce nodded along. When he was done Bruce made him go step by step through the problem and explain how he got there. He could see the moment the teenager realized where he was going wrong. He energetically scribbled out his previous work and started to work afresh. Bruce looked on fondly. They spent most of the rest of Bruce’s break going over Peter’s work with the former scientist more than happy to explain things to the bright boy.  
A throat cleared and they both looked up from where they had their heads bent over a physics book. Tony was standing there with a fond look of his own. Bruce flushed faintly and grabbed his cup to take a sip of his unfortunately cold coffee. 

“Having fun without me?”

“Who says it’s fun with you?”

Tony raised his eyebrows at Bruce’s small grin. Bruce could see him fighting a smile of his own.

“You wound me Bruce. I may never recover.”

“You’ll get over it.”

“How about you kiss it better?”

Bruce rolled his eyes and they landed on the clock behind the counter. He sighed, a little disappointed.

“Sorry Pete but my break is over.”

He stood up from the table and watched as Peter’s face fell into disappointment.

“But I’ll be here again tomorrow if you want help again.”

The teenager lit up.

“Same time same place?”

Bruce couldn’t help smiling back.

“Absolutely.”

Appeased, Peter went back to work. However Bruce didn’t fail to notice the considering look the boy shot between Bruce and Tony. Bruce shook it off as his imagination and headed back behind the counter. He pulled his apron back on and headed towards the machines. Clint stopped him.

“Could you work the till for a bit?”

Bruce was surprised but nodded in agreement. When he saw who was waiting at the till he shot an unimpressed look at Clint which was willfully ignored. Rolling his eyes Bruce turned back to Tony. He smiled as he pulled out a cup and filled in the order before handing it over to Clint.

“You didn’t ask me what I want.”

“Unless you’ve recently gone under some mental recalibration I’m going to assume you want a large, black coffee.”

Tony leaned an elbow on the counter with a grin.

“Maybe I want you, you are just as hot as coffee.”

Bruce looked at him blankly.

“I think that might be the worst one yet. I mean really?”

Tony’s grin widened.

“How about, you’re just as addictive? If you give me a little sugar I’ll know you’re sweet?”

Bruce couldn’t help it, he laughed.

“Oh my god those are terrible. How do you keep coming up with them?”

“It’s a natural talent.”

Just then Clint’s voice called out from the pick up counter.

“Tangy Stink. I have an order for Tangy Stink?”

Tony looked at Bruce who was grinning unashamedly. That fond expression appeared on his face again.

“How do you keep coming up with them?”

Bruce shrugged, still grinning.

“It’s a natural talent.”

Tony shook his head as he laughed and made his way over to Clint. Once he had his coffee he saluted Bruce and walked over to where Peter was still engrossed in his books. Clint sidled up to Bruce.

“The two of you are just as bad as Steve and Bucky were. I just want you to know that.”

Bruce elbowed him and Clint yelped. He rubbed his side and threw Bruce a dirty look.

“Just calling it like I see it.”

“I can’t wait for the day you get swept up with somebody and fall head first for them.”

Bruce noticed a look pass across Clint’s face but it was gone so fast that he couldn’t say what it was. Clint shrugged then smirked.

“So are you saying you’ve fallen head first for Stark?”

Bruce fought the blush that was trying to come out.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Clint snorted.

“Sure you don’t.”

He moved towards a specific spot and Bruce sighed, already holding out a dollar by the time the other man had turned around again with The Delusion Jar. Clint laughed.

“I’ve trained you well.”

A customer walked in at that moment and Clint and Bruce went back to work. When the customer went to wait for their coffee Bruce shot a look over to where Tony and Peter were sitting. He smiled to himself as he watched Peter gesturing to emphasize a point and Tony smiling at him. He could admit to himself, but not aloud or he’d have to listen to Clint teasing him, that he wanted to be there with them. That sometimes he thought to himself that that was where he wanted to be. That he wanted to throw caution to the wind and tell Tony that he wanted everything that he wanted too. He just had to ask himself if he was willing to deal with the possible repercussions. The problem was he wasn’t sure. At that moment Tony looked up and met his eyes with a smile. Bruce smiled back and Tony’s smile got a little bigger. Peter noticed where Tony was looking and smiled big at Bruce and waved. Bruce gave a smaller wave back with the smile still in place.  


At that moment he made up his mind.


	22. Thor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! Sorry it's been so long since I updated, I had a number of personal problems I was dealing with and just didn't have a chance to get back to this. But I'm back now and I hope you enjoy the chapter as much as I did writing it! :)

“I still think it’s too soon for you to be back at work.”

Thor sighed for what felt like the millionth time since they had gotten to the coffee shop that night.

“I’ve already been off for a week, any longer and I was going to go insane. But thanks for the concern.”

Loki sniffed haughtily.

“I’m only worried that you’ll fuck things up and I’ll have to clean up your mess.”

Thor bit back a smile.

“Of course brother.”

Loki glared at him for a moment before heading into the kitchen to restock the baked goods section. Thor propped himself against the counter beside the till where he was to be stationed until he was given the all clear to use his arm again. He scowled at his left arm as if that would speed up its recovery. Just then the door swung open and he called out to Loki that they had customers.

“So what, he’s being paid to skive off?”

Thor turned his head to see the smirking face of Quill. Loki chose that moment to make an appearance.

“Ah Patrick, a pleasure as always.”

Peter threw him a dirty look as the rest of The Guardians poured into the shop. Peter opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Gamora.

“Oh my god what happened to you?!”

The others made curious and sympathetic noises too. Except for Peter who just rolled his eyes. Thor smiled at them.

“Just a small incident, nothing to worry about.”

“Small incident my-”

Thor cut Peter off.

“Are you going to order anything or are you just here to annoy me Quill?”

The other man glared but made an order with the others chiming in with theirs too. Thor somehow managed to write the orders on the cups that he then passed to Loki. He noticed his brother looking at him strangely but paid no attention, he could never figure out what was going on in his brothers head. Thor had nothing else to do so he cast his eye over their only customers. Gamora was snuggled up to her girlfriend Mantis while trying to explain something to a blank faced Drax and Peter was frowning at the table. Thor wondered what was bothering him. Loki called out their orders and once they were all collected Thor expected him to disappear as he usually did, Peter may have a point, but instead he stayed by the coffee machines scrolling through his phone.  


Suddenly Thor felt his phone vibrate. He took it out of his pocket expecting Loki to have sent him something biting as was usual. Instead he saw a message from ‘Q’ asking Thor to go to his tonight. He very deliberately didn’t look up. He responded in the affirmative and put his phone away. He turned his back to the till and leaned back against the counter trying to find something to do to counteract the boredom. They weren’t supposed to use their phones at work which he tried to respect even if Loki didn’t.  


Time passed and eventually even The Guardians left but not without Gamora leaving a generous tip with a sympathetic wince when she looked at his injuries. There were one or two other customers that night but that was it. Thor had never been so happy to clock out. Loki grabbed the tips from the jar. The tip jar not the one labeled ‘Delusion Jar’ which they were both confused about. Loki counted the money.

“I say we get take out. What are you in the mood for?”

Thor hesitated for a moment as he carefully pulled on his hoodie.

“I actually have plans tonight. I won’t be home until later.”

“The Bed Breaker I’m assuming?”

Thor flushed.

“That’s my business.”

Loki shrugged.

“Fair enough just don’t wake me when you get back.”

There was a conniving glint in Loki’s eyes which Thor had learned to be wary of. He frowned.

“What are you plotting brother?”

There was suddenly an air of innocence about Loki which Thor would have bought if it was anyone else.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Thor continued to frown but decided he wouldn’t be getting anything else out of him so he decided to leave it. He headed for the front door as soon as he saw the next shift worker walk in. He waved his good hand over his shoulder at his brother as he left and ignored the snide ‘enjoy yourself’ that he got in return. He was unfortunately still not cleared to drive, but it wasn’t that far so he figured the walk would do him good. It was a clear night and he hummed to himself as he looked up, picking out the constellations that he knew.  
Twenty minutes later he found himself outside Peter’s apartment complex. He pressed the button and after a delay was buzzed in. He jogged up the few flights of stairs and ended up in front of the other man’s door. He knocked and waited, gazing up and down the hallway as he hummed. The door was pulled open and a smirking Peter was revealed.

“Well that was quick.”

Thor’s mouth quirked as he entered the apartment.

“You’ve never had that complaint before.”

Suddenly he was turned around and found himself with a mouthful of Peter. Not that he was complaining. He wrapped his good arm around the other man as he felt hands slide into his hair. He gently bit Peter’s lip and felt rather than heard the moan as the hands in his hair tightened. He walked the memorized route backwards to Peter’s room. Peter slammed the door behind them as they fell on the bed. Thor’s sprained wrist bounced off the mattress and he instinctively pulled back with a hiss. Peter’s eyes widened with alarm.

“Shit!”

He moved away and Thor swallowed a groan of defeat. He hadn’t heard from Peter since the hospital and the thought that he was unneeded because he was damaged had been spinning around in his head. It just made it clearer to Thor that there really was nothing more than sex between them on Peter’s side. He sighed as he looked up at the ceiling, preparing to be told to leave.

“I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to use my arm tonight.”

He heard movement and, expecting it to be Peter getting up from the bed, was surprised when a leg was thrown across his and looked up to see Peter straddling him. He pushed himself up with his good arm but found himself being pushed back down gently by a smirking Peter.

“Then I guess we’ll just make sure you don’t have to use it.”

Peter grabbed the end of his henley and slowly peeled it off his body and tossed it to the side. He slid his hand down his body and popped opened his fly and dragged the zip down. Thor watched him with darkening eyes as his good hand was guided inside the opening. Peter started in on Thor’s fly as he dipped his head down and met Thor’s lips with his own. Thor swallowed what was indisputably a smile and started to move.  


When they were finished and catching their breath Thor tried not to smile in the afterglow. Peter had collapsed against him while being mindful of his injuries and Thor had thrown caution to the wind and wrapped his arm around him. There was no complaints being made so he settled back again. He also couldn’t help getting a thrill from the fact that he was still mostly dressed and Peter was completely naked. He had been true to his word and done all the work. Thor could feel his body wanting to stir again at the memory.  


Eventually however Peter groaned and rolled to the side before getting up and pulling back on his jeans. Thor re-zipped his jeans and pushed himself up. A hand was offered and he grabbed it as he pulled himself to a standing position. He found himself flush with Peter again. Eyes scanned his face and a look he couldn’t decipher passed across Peter’s face. Thor’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Quill?”

The look disappeared and the trademark cocky expression replaced it.

“Yeah?”

Thor shook his head ruefully.

“Nothing.”

Peter shrugged and headed out of the room. Thor followed him as he assumed he was being shown out. However the other man threw himself down on his couch and grabbed his phone.

“I’m starving. I’m going to order some food, you want anything?”

Thor hid his surprise as he moved to the couch. This was a deviation from their usual pattern. He shrugged as he sat down.

“I could go for some pizza.”

Peter snorted as he scrolled through his phone.

“Do you ever eat anything else? Too much’ll ruin your body.”

Thor raised an eyebrow at him.

“I haven’t heard any complaints.”

Peter rolled his eyes with a scoff but Thor noticed the look he shot him. They agreed on what they wanted and ordered. Then during the wait they somehow got into an argument about the best era of music. Peter was die hard eighties, Thor was as well but was disagreeing with him just to rile him up. As Peter launched into an argument in favor of the decade Thor bit back a fond smile.  


He could get used to this.


	23. Steve

Steve smiled at the customer as he took their order before passing the cup to Vision. The woman blushed and made her way to the pick up counter but not before leaving a generous tip. Steve was just glad that Clint wasn’t there to tease him about it. It was a quiet day so he leaned against the counter and had a look around the cafe. There was the usual small scattering of students including that one kid that followed Bruce around, a woman who clearly thought none of them could see her feeding the dog she was hiding in her handbag and one guy wedged into a corner reading a book called The Idiot’s Guide To The Karma Sutra. Steve rolled his eyes at that one.  


He was a little disappointed that Bucky wasn’t able to come in today, exam season was creeping up and he was inundated with work. He was planning on calling him after his shift as he knew if he didn’t Bucky would forget to take a break and there was no point in him burning himself out now when he would have exams to grade after the test period. Steve shook his head ruefully, the man was too dedicated to his work sometimes. He looked up when he heard the door open and smiled when he saw Wanda and her brother enter. She was a good kid and always had a smile for you. She approached the counter with her brother.

“Hello Steve, it is good to see you again. It has been a while.”

Steve was writing her usual order on a cup and passing it to Vision who immediately brightened when he saw the name and looked up to see Wanda smiling back at him.

“It’s been a while alright, my shifts were all over the place for a bit.”

He was poised to write down her brother’s order when he realized Pietro, he thought that was his name, was searching for someone in the cafe. Whoever it was clearly wasn’t there as he looked disappointed.

“What’ll it be, Pietro is it?”

Pietro turned his attention to Steve and rattled off his order. Steve wrote it down and passed the cup to Vision. He also told him that he could take his break as it was acknowledged by anyone that worked with him that he became flustered and useless once his girlfriend showed up. Vision gave him a small smile in thanks and grabbed his lunch before heading over to Wanda’s table. Steve wondered briefly why the brother was sitting at a different table but was distracted by the sound of the door opening again. He grinned when he saw Sam walking up to the counter.

“What’ll it be stranger?”

Sam rolled his eyes with a smile.

“You’ve already forgotten my order? Not much of a barista are you?”

Steve laughed and moved to the machine to fill the order. When he was done he brought the drink back up to the till and handed it over. They were talking for a few minutes before the kitchen door swung open and Scott walked out and diligently began restocking the pastries. Steve noticed that Sam had stiffened slightly and saw him draw in a breath.

“Hey there Tic-Tac.”

Scott swore as he fumbled one of the croissants and turned his head in their direction. When he saw Sam his face lit up like the Christmas tree in the city center. He hurriedly placed the rest of the goods and made his way over to them.

“Sam hi, it’s been a while.”

Sam shrugged.

“Busy with work, you know how it is.”

“Sure.”

“So did I miss anything?”

Scott launched into a rambley speech about everything that Sam had missed. He missed the fond look on Sam’s face but Steve didn’t. He would give him hell for it later, payback for when he used to be teased for looking at Bucky the same way. Unfortunately a customer eventually walked in. Sam grabbed his coffee and indicated that he was going to sit. Scott smiled a ‘see you later’ to him and hummed to himself as he went back to the kitchen. Steve shook his head as he filled the order. They were hopeless. He smiled as he passed the order to the customer and moved back to the till re-planning his evening as he did.  


At the end of his shift Steve put his apron away in his nook in the staff room and saluted Clint as he clocked in. Clint wiggled his eyebrows and told him to enjoy his evening. Steve glared at him. How did he always know? Did he have some sort of superpower? He made a quick stop before he found himself standing in front of Bucky’s door. He knocked and waited. Eventually the door was opened to reveal a frazzled looking Bucky. He soon looked confused.

“Steve?”

Steve held up the bag of takeout he was holding.

“Dinner?”

Bucky smiled.

“You’re a saint do you know that?”

Steve grinned as he walked into the apartment. He went to the kitchen to grab some plates while Bucky tried to make some space on the sitting room table. It was currently covered in notepads, books, and random pieces of paper scattered around an open laptop. Bucky’s attempt at tidying just led to everything being dropped into piles on the floor beside the table. Steve handed him a plate which Bucky gratefully took.

“I didn’t realise how hungry I was until you walked in.”

Steve grinned with a mischievous look in his eye.

“Does that mean you find me tasty?”

Bucky laughed around a mouthful of chinese food.

“I’m not going to disagree.”

Steve laughed. They ate in silence for a while, Steve could see that Bucky was relishing the break. Eventually Bucky put down his plate and stretched. Steve subtly watched and fought a flush as the strip of skin between the bottom of his shirt and top of his jeans was exposed. He put down his plate and took a swig of water.

“Thanks for this Steve, I really needed it.”

Steve threw him a small smile.

“No problem Buck.”

There was movement in the corner of his eye and he turned to look just as lips slid across his. Fingertips ghosted across his cheek as he kissed back, the heat of Bucky’s mouth welcoming his tongue. They eventually broke apart and Steve could feel himself flushing all over. Bucky quirked a smile.

“Just wanted to make sure you knew how grateful I was.”

Steve pretended to consider this.

“I dunno, I think I could do with more convincing.”

Bucky laughed and leaned forward to swallow Steve’s grin.


	24. Clint

Clint groaned as the morning light pierced through his curtains. A breath huffed and Pietro wriggled back against him in his sleep. Clint smiled fondly at the younger man who was pouting in his sleep. He propped his head up on his hand and absentmindedly stroked Pietro’s hip. Things had been better between them since they had talked, Pietro knew where he stood and Clint was happy that there were no more misunderstandings. He was just considering all the delicious ways he could wake the other man up when his phone started ringing. He groaned again but hurried to answer it before it woke Pietro.

“What.”

“ _Now is that any way to greet your oldest friend?_ ”

The voice on the other end of the line sounded amused and Clint jerked upright in bed.

“Nat!”

He realized he’d been loud and checked on Pietro but found that he was still asleep. He turned his attention back to the call with a huge smile on his face.

“It’s been a while.”

“ _Missed me?_ ”

His voice turned soft.

“Of course I’ve missed you. But I could do without you calling me at ass o’ clock in the morning.”

Nat laughed.

“ _Well it’s not like it’s an unusual occurrence._ ”

Clint barked a laugh.

“Usually you keep me up all night instead of waking me up early.”

They both laughed as they thought back to their college years when Natasha used to make him pull all-nighters with her before exams. He would be a zombie the next day and she would always look like she’d had a great nights sleep. He still resented that.

“So to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“ _I’m going to be in town for the next few days and thought we could hang out_.”

“I still have to work but yeah we can spend my time off together.”

“ _I can call over to your place now since you’re up-_ ”

“No!”

Clint winced and made sure that Pietro hadn’t woken up. The kid was apparently a deep sleeper.

“No, don’t come here. I’ll meet you at the coffee shop today and we can figure things out then.”

“ _Okay. But I’m assuming from your reaction that you currently have someone naked in your bed right now that you don’t want me to see_.”

Clint grinned.

“You know me too well.”

They agreed that Nat would call into the cafe at ten and said their goodbyes. Clint put his phone back on the locker and scrubbed his hands over his face. He hadn’t wanted Nat to call by because he wanted to brace her for the fact that his boyfriend was quite a bit younger than him. He’d never been one for younger partners and had often laughed with Nat about ‘dirty old men’. He sighed. She was going to give him hell for this. He smiled fondly at Pietro’s sleeping form. But it would be worth it. Giving in he climbed out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. A quick shower he vaguely wished Pietro would interrupt and he was ready for the day.

When he re-entered the bedroom he found the bed empty and assumed Pietro was up and about. He got dressed and made his way to the kitchen where he found a sleepy Pietro cradling a cup of coffee. He grinned as he grabbed the cup that was set aside for him and leaned in for a lazy good morning kiss. When he pulled back Pietro had his eyes closed and a small smile on his face.

“Good morning.”

He opened his eyes and quickly pecked Clint on the lips.

“Good morning old man.”

Clint grinned and took a sip of his coffee. He relished his mornings with the other man as they continued their slow words. Suddenly the quiet was broken by the shrieking of some god forsaken boyband that made Clint wince. Pietro threw him an amused look as he answered his phone. A brief conversation in sokovian let Clint know that Wanda was on the other end of the phone. When the call ended Pietro threw back the rest of his cooling coffee and put the mug in the sink.

“Wanda wishes to see me. Apparently she has a very important date with Vision today and cannot decide what to wear. My assistance is required.”

“She’s going to trust you to pick her outfit?”

Pietro snorted.

“She will pretend that that is her intention but will simply talk at me until she has come to her own conclusion.”

Clint grinned.

“Sounds about right.”

Pietro huffed a laugh as he grabbed his jacket from the couch. He slipped it on and put his phone in his back pocket before approaching Clint and sliding his arms over Clint’s shoulders and burying his hands in his hair. Clint put down his mug and placed his hands on Pietro’s hips making the other man smile.

“I believe Wanda will be meeting Vision at the coffee shop later so I shall see you then old man.”

“Try not to miss me too much until then brat.”

Pietro rolled his eyes and leaned in for a kiss. Clint finally pulled away before they could get too heated and reminded Pietro that Wanda wouldn’t be too happy if he kept her waiting. Pietro pouted but unwound himself from Clint leaving the older man feeling cold. A short goodbye followed and Pietro was out the door. Clint smiled to himself as he finished off his tepid coffee. He rinsed his and Pietro’s cups out and put them on the draining board. Pietro had been trying to convince him to buy a Kuerig for the flat but so far Clint had refused. In his opinion he had to deal with fancy coffees at work, home was for black coffee. Although he had certainly enjoyed the last time Pietro had tried to ‘convince’ him. He rolled his eyes and admitted that he was already looking forward to seeing him again later.

Clint suddenly paused what he was doing. Pietro was coming to the coffee shop later. So was Nat. He’d been friends with her too long, five minutes around Pietro and she’d know exactly what was going on. Clint tried to calm himself down. There was no way that Nat and Pietro would end up at the shop at the same time, it was a long work day.

Right?


	25. Bruce

It was unusually quiet that day and Steve had told him that he could take his break early. Bruce grabbed himself a coffee and some day old pastries that Scott insisted were just as good as the fresh stuff. He headed to the back of the shop and settled in with his book. Every so often he would look up just to keep an eye on the tutoring going on between Peter and the Wilson kid. He laughed quietly to himself as he noticed that Wilson was inching his chair closer and closer to Peter every time he thought he could get away with it. So far Peter seemed to be oblivious. Bruce shook his head and went back to his book. He was so absorbed that he didn’t hear someone else enter the shop, or the fact that Peter called out to this person. He didn’t notice until they were standing at his table and clearing their throat. Bruce startled to awareness and tipped his head up to see Tony smiling at him.

“Good book?”

Bruce blushed and put the book down.

“Uh, yeah. How long have you been standing there?”

There was a twinkle of mirth in Tony’s eyes.

“Long enough.”

Bruce waited a second to see if the ground would swallow him up like he hoped it would. No luck. He gestured to the free seat.

“Do you want to sit down?”

Tony did so gracefully and took a sip of his coffee. He gazed around the room briefly until his eyes landed on his son. Bruce could see them narrowing as he took in the sight and decided to distract him.

“So you don’t usually come in here at this time, any particular reason for the change today?”

Tony moved his attention back to Bruce with a smile.

“Why, are you complaining?”

Bruce rolled his eyes.

“Of course not, I was just curious.”

Tony smirked and took another sip of his coffee before answering.

“I had a board meeting today and I needed to escape before they sucked all the life and intelligence from me.”

Bruce hid a smile behind his cup.

“Are they not up to the Tony Stark level of genius then?”

Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before going into a rant about the general incompetence of the board members. Bruce listened to it all in amusement. If anything he felt a little sympathetic towards the others, it couldn’t be easy trying to match up to Tony Stark’s wants. Eventually Tony stopped and looked at his watch.

“You let me rant for that long without stopping me?”

Bruce smiled at him.

“It seemed like you needed to get it off your chest.”

Tony’s expression softened and he reached out to gently touch Bruce’s hand.

“Thank you Bruce, I did need that.”

He was pulling his hand away when Bruce turned his own over so he could grasp it. Tony was clearly startled and looked around the shop. He tipped his head slightly forward and murmured.

“You know people might see us?”

Bruce took a steading breath and strengthened his resolve.

“So what if they do?”

Tony’s expression was unreadable.

“I know you want to keep your anonymity and your peace.”

“I want you more.”

Bruce still couldn’t make out what Tony was feeling.

“Are you sure about this? Because once we go down this road there’s no turning back.”

Bruce smiled with all the assurance he could.

“I’ve never been more sure about anything.”

Tony’s eyes searched Bruce’s face and apparently found what he was looking for. The smile that broke across his face was made up of so many emotions Bruce couldn’t count but there was affection, joy and awe among them. Tony raised their joined hands and placed a gentle kiss on Bruce’s knuckles. When he lowered their hands again his smile was still in place. 

“So if I ask you out on a date will you say yes this time?”

Bruce grinned.

“You’ll have to ask me and find out.”

Tony laughed and his eyes met Bruce’s.

“In that case, Dr. Bruce Banner would you do me the great honor of going out with me?”

Bruce pretended to think about it and Tony looked amused. Then Bruce smiled.

“Yes I think I will Mr. Tony Stark.”

Tony grinned in delight and Bruce shared in his joy.

“So where do you want to go on this first date?”

Bruce replied.

“Surprise me.”

Tony frowned as he sipped his coffee.

“This will require planning.”

“Dates usually do.”

Tony shot Bruce’s quip an unimpressed look.

“I mean deep, involved planning, the likes of which the world has never seen before.”

Bruce was beginning to regret handing the planning of their first date over to Tony. The other man clearly saw something on his face because he soon added to his commentary.

“You know in a low-key, subtle and unassuming kind of way.”

Bruce shook his head and huffed a laugh.

“It’s fine Tony, I knew what to expect when I said yes.”

There was that familiar glint in Tony’s eye.

“I’m looking forward to all the different way I can get you to say yes.”

Bruce buried his face in his hands.

“Oh god.”

“That too.”

Bruce just groaned in response.

“That-”

“Don’t say it!”

Tony threw back his head and laughed. Bruce peeked out from between his hands and tried to hide his grin. Tony Stark really was something else. Their moment was unfortunately broken by the sound of a large smack and a shout.

“No means no Wade!”

They both turned, as did everyone else in the coffee shop, to see Peter holding a textbook over his head and Wade Wilson rubbing the back of his head while swearing profusely. Tony’s eyes instantly narrowed and he made to stand up. Bruce grabbed his arm and pulled him back down into his seat. 

“Calm down Tony.”

Tony made a noise of disagreement but Bruce kept a hold of him.

“Peter has been able to handle Wilson perfectly fine by himself, he doesn’t need you wading in.”

They watched as Wade tugged on the sleeve of a Peter that was now ignoring him. They couldn’t hear what he was saying but Peter was apparently having none of it. Wade stopped what he was doing, pulled out his phone and appeared to be playing with it. Suddenly he jumped up out of his seat holding his phone over his head while blaring Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ at full volume. Peter was turning red but continued to ignore him. That is until Wade starting singing along. Loudly. And off-key. A very red Peter dragged the other boy back into his seat and wrestled the phone off him. The other customers sighed in relief at the sudden silence. Peter handed back the phone and they returned to studying. Bruce just hoped Tony didn’t see the lovesick look on Wade’s face. Tony was still frowning in their general direction but turned to Bruce.

“How do you know he’s been handling himself?”

Bruce shrugged as he let go of Tony’s arm, sure now that the other man wasn’t going to make a scene that would inevitably embarrass his son.

“I keep an eye on them when they’re in here.”

“You’re looking out for him?”

“Of course. He’s a good kid and I want to make sure he’s safe.”

Tony was looking at him in surprise and then fondness.

“You’re a good guy Bruce.”

Bruce flushed and looked away. He saw the clock behind the counter and sighed.

“My break is over so I’m afraid you’ll have to finish your coffee without me.”

“But not without exchanging numbers.”

Bruce flushed again when he realized he’d forgotten that little detail. Tony just had a look of amusement on his face. They swapped phones to trade numbers and when Bruce handed Tony back his he found his hand held prisoner. Tony slipped the phone from his hand and pressed a kiss against the back of Bruce’s hand. He offered him a roguish grin.

“I’ll call you later with the details of our date.”

Bruce cleared his throat and gave him a shy smile.

“Sure.”

With that he hurried back to the counter and took his place behind the machines. A throat cleared next to him and he turned to see Steve grinning at him.

“Well the two of you certainly looked cozy.”

“Do not breath a word of this to Clint.”

Steve laughed but made no promises.


	26. Thor

Thor left the hospital with a sigh of relief. He looked down at his bandage free arm and flexed it. It felt good to have it off, maybe now people would stop treating him like an invalid. Although it was always fun to see Loki’s interesting combination of worry and care hidden by venom. Thor grinned to himself and whistled as he headed to the bus stop. He had decided not to tempt fate by calling an Uber. When he hopped on the bus and as he took his seat he popped in his air pods and tuned into the local radio station. They were streaming a repeat of Star Lord’s Eighties Hour and Thor didn’t want to miss it. He was contentedly humming along with the songs when the host himself broke up the songs to talk. Thor frowned. It had been bugging him lately but he was sure he’d heard that voice somewhere before. Maybe Star Lord frequented the coffee shop? It was poking him in the back of his mind and driving him crazy. It was nearly enough to make him stop listening. Nearly but not quite.

He jumped off the bus on the stop nearest his flat and made his way there while continuing to hum under his breath. Forgoing the elevator he took the stairs up to his floor. He checked his phone, he was cutting it close but he should have time to get changed and still get to work relatively on time. He’d already told Fury he was going for a check up and would be at the least late and at the worst would miss his shift, Loki had agreed to cover the shift by himself if the worst came to worst. He just hoped he’d get there before Loki caused any real damage. His thoughts screeched to a halt however when he reached the flat only to see Peter sitting on the floor in front of the door.

“Quill?”

Peter looked up and Thor could see the weariness on his face. He approached him slowly as he stood up.

“Hey man, I hope you don’t mind, I just…”

Peter trailed off and Thor moved past him to unlock the door.

“Well you’re here you might as well come inside.”

Peter nodded and looked relieved as he followed Thor inside. Thor closed the door behind them as Peter made his way over to the couch and dropped himself down onto it with a sigh. Thor frowned.

“Beer?”

Peter called back an affirmative and Thor grabbed them two beers and made his way to the couch. He sat and passed one of the bottles to Peter who immediately screwed the top off and drained half of it. Thor raised his eyebrows.

“Rough day?”

Peter gave a snort of derision.

“You could say that.”

Thor took a swig from his own beer and waited to see if Peter would continue. He knew from experience that trying to force Peter to talk would only result in him getting pissed off and leaving. Another few moments passed before Peter sighed in aggravation and scrubbed a hand over his face.

“My dad’s in town.”

“And that’s… not good?”

The laugh Peter gave was hollow.

“He makes an appearance every so often, gives the impression of being the best caring dad ever and then disappears again. We’re supposed to have coffee tonight but I just couldn’t face it. I left after a few minutes and dunno, I just ended up here.”

“I’m sorry Peter.”

The other man took another swig of beer and shrugged.

“It’s fine.”

“No it’s not, you deserve a father that treats you better than that.”

One side of Peter’s mouth quirked up in a sardonic smile.

“Shame he doesn’t agree with you.”

They drank in silence for a little while before Thor spoke again.

“I may not know your father but I’ve seen you with the others, Gamora, Drax and Mantis, and I think with them you’ve found the family that your father has failed to be. They clearly care about you and a found family is just as important as the one you’re born into.”

Peter was looking at him with an expression that Thor couldn’t decipher. Suddenly Peter leaned across the space between them and kissed him. Thor used the hand not holding his beer to cup Peter’s face while the other man gripped his t-shirt. They kissed slowly and when Peter pulled away Thor knew something had shifted, he just didn’t know what.

“Thank you.”

Thor smiled at Peter as his thumb stroked his cheek.

“You have nothing to thank me for.”

Peter looked as if he wanted to say something else but he pulled away instead. Thor smothered the feeling of disappointment and took another drink. He wished briefly for a sign from Peter, something that would show him that what they had wasn’t just sex, that he was something more to him. Sometimes he felt that there were hints, something to give him hope, but they always turned out to be nothing. Thor had gone into their arrangement thinking there was no way in hell that he could ever feel anything but loathing and sexual attraction for the other man. Loki had always accused him of being an incurable romantic and Thor was beginning to feel the sting of that now. One day he wanted to pour scalding coffee on Quill and the next Quill had become Peter. Thor sighed. How did he get himself into these situations?

“Hey your bandage is gone.”

Thor was startled out of his thoughts and looked down at the arm holding his beer.

“Oh, yes, I had an appointment today at the hospital and they gave me the all clear to take it off. Finally.”

Peter grinned and tipped his bottle towards him.

“Cheers to that.”

Thor laughed and tipped his bottle in return. They were quiet for another few moments before Peter broke the silence.

“So what’s your old man like?”

Thor shrugged.

“Strict. Growing up I was always getting into fights and Loki would be constantly in trouble for pranking people so he came down hard on us. It could have been worse but our mother always talked him down. My father would do anything for her and if she wanted him to be more lenient then that’s what he was.”

Peter looked intrigued.

“I can imagine your deviant brother tormenting people, but you don’t seem like the kind of guy that gets into fights.”

Thor grimaced.

“I was an extremely arrogant teenager and it took very little to set me off. I was almost thrown out of school and college a number of times but my father just donated money and it went away.”

This was greeted with raised eyebrows.

“Donated money? What, are you secretly rich or something?”

Peter laughed and Thor shifted uncomfortably. Peter stopped laughing when Thor didn’t respond and narrowed his eyes.

“Wait, are you secretly rich?”

Thor took a swig of his beer to buy a few seconds but Peter was still waiting for a response.

“We’re not obscenely rich like Tony Stark or anything but our father is a Jarl back home. We have a family estate and probably more money than we actually need so I suppose you could class us as rich.”

Peter stared at Thor stunned. Thor chugged the rest of his beer and stood up. He went to the kitchen and got them both another while he waited for Peter to process what he’d told him. He put Peters beer on the table in front of him and sat back down. Eventually Peter threw back the rest of his beer and grabbed the new one.

“So let me get this straight, you and your goth brother are what basically royalty?”

Thor grimaced.

“Not royalty though people do put a lot of stock in our position.”

Peter looked baffled.

“If you have all that money why do you share a tiny apartment with your brother and work the graveyard shift at a coffee shop?”

Thor rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

“Loki and I both agreed that we preferred our privacy. And we wanted to make things on our own terms, to live how we wanted. Anyway after one two many attempts at matchmaking on our fathers side we decided to run and we ended up here. And to be honest, I’m happy with the life I have here.”

Peter held up a finger.

“Hold on. You said ‘run’. Are you in hiding from your father?”

Thor gave him a sheepish grin. Peter sighed and rubbed a hand across his face.

“I’m not even really surprised to be honest.”

Thor laughed and Peter threw him an amused smile. He shook his head and took another pull from the bottle.

“You have no idea how unfair it is that you look like that _and_ you’re rich.”

Thor grinned at him.

“And how exactly do I look?”

Peter rolled his eyes but didn’t answer. Thor put his beer down on the table and moved closer to Peter. He only stopped when his mouth was inches away from Peters.

“How do I look Peter?”

Peters eyes met his with a fire in them.

“Like you should be naked and on top of me.”

Thor stood up and held out a hand.

“Well? Are you coming?”

Peter grinned as he grabbed the hand.

“Not yet but soon hopefully.”

Thor yanked Peter up so they were flush against each other and spoke lowly in his ear.

“Hopefully not too soon.”

They somehow made it to Thor’s room before wandering hands, searing kisses and a blatant disregard for their surroundings caused them to fall over. Luckily they landed on the bed. Peter laughed into their kiss and Thor tucked the sound away in his memory.  
When they were finished and collapsed in a sweaty heap Thor thought again about finding Peter at his door with that lost look in his eyes. Once his breath steadied he spoke.

“Why don’t you stay here tonight? It’s late and there’s not much point in leaving now.”

He stayed staring at the ceiling but could see out of the corner of his eye that Peter had turned to look at him. There was silence for a beat.

“Sure, why not? I’m comfortable anyway.”

He huffed a laugh and now Thor did turn to look at him. Peter looked like he wanted to laugh again.

“Well as comfortable as I can be on a mattress on the floor. You really need to look into buying an actual bed man.”

Thor laughed.

“Maybe.”

The silence that followed was companionable and eventually they both fell asleep.

They were still asleep some hours later when the front door opened.


	27. Steve

Steve stopped in front of a large print and examined the picture. The talent of Erskine continually blew him away. That the man had captured such breathtaking and yet harrowing photos was amazing. He had nearly been killed numerous times but refused to give up saying that people needed to see what was happening there. He moved to the next photo and drank it in. The gallery was quite busy as the exhibition had only recently opened but wasn’t uncomfortably packed. A hand on his elbow jerked him back to awareness. Bucky was smiling softly at him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Steve was quick to reassure him.

“Oh no, you didn’t! I mean I totally knew you were there.”

Bucky bit back a smile.

“Sure, let’s say I believe you.”

Steve gave a small grin. Bucky shook his head fondly.

“I was just going to ask if you wanted to get something to eat when we’re done here?”

“Do you want to go? I know we’ve been in here for a while.”

“No nothing like that, I have no interest in making you hurry.”

Steve frowned.

“Are you sure? I know there’s not really anything for you to look at here.”

Bucky grinned.

“I can think of at least one thing I like looking at in here.”

“Really? What?”

Bucky raised his eyebrows as he continued to grin. Steve suddenly flushed.

“Oh.”

The other man laughed and squeezed his shoulder.

“Take as long as you want Rogers. Just come and find me whenever you want to leave.”

Steve made to protest again but Bucky was already walking away. Steve shook his head with an amused huff and moved to the next section of the exhibition. Some time later Steve had finally run out of photographs and had remembered he had a boyfriend with him. He made his way back through the exhibit hoping to find him. He came across him standing in front of one of the more abstract pieces with his head tilted to one side. He walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Bucky turned his head and smiled when he saw Steve.

“I could go for food if the offer is still there.”

Bucky smiled.

“Sounds good. Anywhere in particular you want to go?”

Steve shook his head.

“Thought I’d leave that up to you as a reward for making it through the exhibition.”

Bucky laughed as they left the gallery and stepped into the cold night air.

“Fair enough. There’s a place nearby that I like if you don’t mind a walk?”

Steve agreed to the plan and they started off in the direction of the restaurant. Steve slid his fingers through Bucky’s and clasped their hands together. Bucky smiled at him and squeezed his hand. Steve tried to keep the goofy smile off his face but it was a losing battle. He was so happy but he was also slightly nervous. Everything was so good that it was almost too good. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop sure that something bad was going to happen. There was no way that the universe was okay with him having things this good. He felt his hand being squeezed again and shook himself out of his head to look at Bucky.

“You okay? You looked miles away.”

Steve shook his head with a small smile. He wasn’t about to share his worries.

“It’s fine, I was just thinking about work.”

“I must not be very interesting if you’re occupied with work.”

Steve hurried to deny this.

“No! You’re very interesting I just-”

He broke off when he saw the grin on the other man’s face. He huffed a breath.

“You’re messing with me aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

Steve slugged him in the shoulder with a smile.

“Ass.”

Bucky laughed.

“So what has you so preoccupied with work?”

Steve sighed.

“It’s more a Sam thing really.”

“What has he still not admitted he’s hot for Scott?”

Steve looked at him with wide eyes.

“What?”

Bucky snorted.

“Come on, if he’s trying to be subtle he’s doing a piss poor job of it.”

Steve floundered, unsure of how to respond.

“I’m guessing from your stunned silence that it’s supposed to be a secret.”

Steve sighed and admitted defeat.

“Yeah it is.”

“I don’t see what the problem is, Scott is clearly just as gone as Sam is. Maybe more so.”

“You think?”

Bucky raised his eyebrows.

“Watching the two of them dance around each other is some of my favourite entertainment at the shop. I can’t believe more people haven’t noticed.”

Steve’s mind was officially blown. Thoughts were racing around his head as Bucky gently guided him towards the diner he wanted to take him to. Steve came to once they were inside and finding a seat. As he sat across from Bucky and grabbed a menu he decided to put his friends complicated love lives out of his head and focus on the man in front of him. 

“So what’s good here?”

“They do a mean bacon cheese burger and fries.”

The man knew Steve’s weak spots.

“Guess I’ll be having that so.”

Bucky grinned as the waitress came over to take their orders. She looked to be in her seventies and smiled big when she saw Bucky.

“It’s been a while since we seen you in here James!”

Bucky smiled charmingly.

“Lot of work to get through Bess, it’s nice to finally be back here.”

Bess turned her attention to Steve.

“And who’s this fine specimen?”

Steve could feel his face wanting to turn red as Bucky directed a shit eating grin at him.

“This is my boyfriend Steve. Steve this is Bess.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you ma’am.”

She began fanning herself with her notebook.

“And so polite! If I were only twenty years younger.”

Now Steve knew for certain that he was blushing as Bucky struggled not to laugh. 

“Are you going to take our orders or are you just going to drool all over my man?”

“Honey I’m a woman, I can multitask. So what’re you having?”

Bucky rattled off their order and she headed off towards the kitchen. Bucky laughed.

“So that was Bess.”

“She’s uh, she’s something.”

There was another laugh.

“She sure is. I’ve been coming here for years, since I was in college myself and she always looked after me when I came in. The trouble I used to get into if I’d forgotten to eat a couple of days in a row! Somehow she always knew.”

Steve smiled.

“She sounds like one of the good ones.”

Bucky nodded.

“She sure is.”

Their food arrived fast and Bess left it on their table with a wink. They talked while they ate and fought over the last fry. When they went to the counter to pay Bess informed them that it was taken care of. Bucky started to argue but the older woman was having none of it.

“Oh hush, I’m just trying to impress your boyfriend so he’ll jump to my ship.”

Steve was flustered again and Bucky shook his head in amusement.

“Get your own man.”

“What do you think I’m trying to do?”

Bucky turned to Steve.

“I’m just going to duck to the bathroom real fast, you okay here?”

Steve assured him he was and Bucky left. When Steve turned to face Bess again he found her scrutinizing him. He shifted uncomfortably. She crossed her arms and gave him a once over.

“You must be something special.”

Steve blinked in confusion.

“What?”

“He’s never brought anyone here as long as I’ve known him. Him bringing you here was a big deal, I hope you know that.”

Steve didn’t really know what to say to that.

“You planning on breaking his heart?”

“No ma’am. If anything one day he’ll realize he’s too good for me and I’ll be the one with the broken heart.”

“You care about him then?”

Steve couldn’t help the soft smile that graced his face when he thought of Bucky.

“Yes ma’am I do.”

Bucky chose that moment to walk up.

“Ready to go? And I hope you weren’t trying to scare him Bess.”

“Me? What a thing to say. You try put some of those nice manners you have on this boy.”

Steve smiled.

“I’ll try my best.”

Bess gave Bucky a peck on the cheek and then patted it.

“This one’s a keeper honey, remember that.”

Bucky smiled and after bidding her goodbye they left the diner. Once they were outside Bucky grabbed hold of Steve’s hand again and they started walking down the street in the direction of Bucky’s car.

“So what did she say to you?”

Steve looked at Bucky.

“What?”

“What did Bess say? I know she had to have said something, she can’t help herself.”

Steve shrugged with a secret smile.

“Nothing much.”

Suddenly Bucky stopped and ducked in for a quick kiss. Steve looked at him in amusement.

“What was that for?”

Now Bucky shrugged with a smile.

“Just because.”

Steve grinned all the way home.


	28. Clint

Clint whistled while he worked on the order. Steve looked at him suspiciously as a happy Clint usually meant bad things. Clint didn’t care, he was in a good mood. He’d woken up next to a beautiful man and his oldest friend was coming to visit. Life was good. And sure enough when the clock turned ten on the dot the bell over the door went off to announce the arrival of one Natasha Romanov. She sauntered over to the counter and Clint tapped Steve on the shoulder.

“I’ve got this one.”

He was treated to another suspicious look.

“Sure.”

Clint grinned as he grabbed a cup and marker.

“What’ll it be little lady?”

Nat looked amused.

“You know I know how to hide a body without being caught right?”

Clint laughed.

“So should I just write down liquid evil or…”

Nat bit back a laugh and rattled off the same drink she’d been ordering since they were in college. He passed the cup to Steve and propped his hip against the counter.

“So what brings you to town?”

“Trying to get rid of me already Barton?”

He rolled his eyes as she smirked.

“Of course not, just wondering if trouble was going to follow you. Again.”

“Not this time.”

“Well that makes a nice change.”

Nat shrugged a shoulder as if to say ‘what can you do?’ Clint smiled fondly as he remembered some of the scrapes they’d gotten each other into. Steve passed the cup to Nat over the counter and disappeared into the kitchen. He wondered what Steve could want with Scott but Nat pulled his attention away.

“So the mysterious person in your bed… do I get to meet them?”

“You act like I’m hiding them from you.”

Nat checked off on her fingers.

“First you won’t let me call over because they’re there and now you won’t settle on a pronoun, so forgive me for being suspicious.”

Clint crossed his arms.

“Look, we haven’t been together that long and we’re just keeping it between us.”

“Wait. Is this some sort of secret romance?”

Clint said nothing. Nat pressed her index finger to her forehead.

“You are too old for this, I hope you know that.”

Clint winced at the mention of age and hoped Nat didn’t notice.

“So how long have you been together?”

He hesitated for a moment.

“Nearly two months.”

“And this is the first I’m hearing about it? How dare you.”

Clint laughed and Nat smirked at him. She took a sip of her coffee and gazed around the room. Clint knew she would now change the subject so that she could pounce on him later when he was unawares. He was used to it. Not that he didn’t usually fall for it anyway.

“Is that Tony Stark?”

Clint followed Nat’s gaze to see Stark sipping a coffee while his son talked animatedly.

“Yeah he comes in here a lot, he’s got his eye on one of the guys that works here. Don’t think it’ll happen anytime soon but he keeps trying.”

“I like perseverance in a man.”

“No, bad Nat.”

Nat hummed in response and continued to look around the shop. The door opened and a customer walked in so Nat moved to one side while Clint served her. Once she had moved on to the pickup counter where she blushed and giggled when Steve smiled at her Nat moved back. Clint couldn’t help wondering when Steve had come back out. How could such a big guy be so quiet? He and Nat had been talking for about another ten minutes when the door opened again. Instinctively Nat moved away and Clint grabbed a cup. He froze momentarily when he saw who it was. He smiled at Wanda.

“The usual?”

Wanda smiled back.

“Yes please.”

She elbowed a scowling Pietro.

“The usual old man.”

“Sure brat.”

He handed the cups to Steve and the twins moved to the pickup counter. Once they were seated Nat moved back to Clint with her eyebrows raised.

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

Clint feigned innocence.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She hissed in a whisper.

“He’s a kid.”

Clint was indignant and whispered back.

“He’s thirty, there’s nothing wrong with it!”

Nat immediately looked smug and Clint realized he’d put his foot in it. He sighed in defeat.

“Fine, yes he’s the mysterious person.”

Nat sipped her coffee before responding and when she did she looked concerned.

“That’s what, nearly a twenty year age gap? Does he even know you have kids?”

Clint dragged a hand through his hair and let out a sigh.

“Yes he knows about the kids. And he doesn’t care about the age gap.”

Nat eyed him shrewdly.

“But it bothers you doesn’t it?”

Clint tapped the fingers of his right hand against the counter.

“Yeah it’s bothered me but I figure I should just enjoy it while I have it.”

Nat’s expression softened and she covered his hand with her own.

“You’re a great catch and if he doesn’t see that then that’s his loss.”

Clint’s mouth quirked up in a half smile which she returned. She returned to sipping her drink but Clint could tell from experience that she was casting an eye over Pietro.

“He’s pretty I’ll give you that, even with the scowl. Is that permanent?”

Clint frowned as he looked to where the two were sitting and sure enough Pietro had a face like thunder as Wanda talked to him seemingly unconcerned.

“He had to help his sister pick out an outfit for a date so knowing him he’s pissed about that.”

“He doesn’t like helping his sister?”

Clint snorted.

“He doesn’t trust her boyfriend.”

“Ah.”

Nat looked at her watch and frowned.

“I have an appointment to go to but how about we meet up tomorrow when you’re done with work and I can tease you further about being a sugar daddy?”

Clint winced again.

“I’ll agree to meet you but only if the words ‘sugar daddy’ never leave your mouth again.”

Nat smirked.

“I make no promises.”

Clint laughed and they made plans to meet the next day and Nat left. Clint continued to hum to himself as he wiped down the counters and tables, skirting the Maximoffs table to give them some privacy. He needn’t have worried about that though as a few minutes later Pietro stood up and marched out of the shop. Clint was already back at the till and watched in some confusion as Pietro failed to even throw a look his way. He shook himself out of it when Wanda approached the counter and left a generous tip in the jar.

“I apologize for my brother, he has been in a foul mood for much of today.”

Clint waved off her apology.

“Hey you don’t need to apologize for him if he’s the one with the problem.”

Something occurred to Clint.

“I don’t normally see you in here when Vision isn’t working.”

Wanda shrugged.

“It was Pietro’s idea. He was very insistent that we get here at ten though I don’t know why.”

She waved her goodbyes and left, no doubt trying to track down her brother. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what had happened. Pietro had clearly heard him talking to Nat on the phone and instead of asking him about it had decided to spy. Clint sighed and tipped his head back. He thought they had gotten better at the whole communication thing but apparently not. He made sure there were no customers looking for attention and he pulled out his phone.

‘ _Are you coming over tonight?_ ’

He put the phone back in his pocket, not expecting a reply anytime soon if Pietro’s mood leaving the coffee shop was anything to go by. However less than a minute later he felt the vibration of a message and pulled his phone back out.

‘ _Of course_.’

Short but not giving any cause for concern. Maybe Pietro had already dealt with whatever had caused his foul mood. Whatever it was they were still going to have a discussion about communication. Steve indicated that another customer had walked in so Clint put away his phone and slapped on a smile. Time for work.


	29. Bruce

It had been two weeks since Bruce had agreed to go on a date with Tony and unfortunately he had yet to see him again. Some disaster in the company had come up and Tony had very little time to even text let alone come into the coffee shop or plan a date. If Bruce wasn’t Bruce this wouldn’t have bothered him but as he was himself thoughts had been endlessly cycling through his mind. What if this wasn’t a good idea? What if he made a fool of himself? Was Tony really that busy or was he having second thoughts? Was he even good enough to be with someone like Tony Stark? In an interesting turn of events the thought that Ross would find him was less terrifying than the thought that Tony might realize Bruce wasn’t worth it.  


Thanks to stress there was now an alarming number of empty ice cream cartons in his trash. However he had no intention of sharing that fact with anyone. He was filling an order and considering what ice cream he was craving that day. When he was done he checked the cup as he went to the pick up counter and smiled when he saw Peter’s name. The teenager was already grinning when Bruce looked up.

“Hey Dr. B! Same time same place?”

Bruce smiled and nodded and Peter took off to his usual spot. One positive thing was that Peter still appeared in the coffee shop without fail. Bruce enjoyed spending time with him and getting to know him. The kid wasn’t just bright, he was kind too. Bruce kept telling himself not to get attached but he was worried that it might be too late for that. The rest of the day up to his break was fairly monotonous. Clint wasn’t even there to liven things up, it was just Bruce and Vision and Vision wasn’t a very talkative person. As soon as his break time hit Bruce informed Vision he was taking it and, after grabbing a tea and croissant, he made his way over to Peter. The teen in question was currently looking at his phone instead of any of the work in front of him which surprised Bruce. He honestly believed they’d have to pry his textbook from his cold dead hands. The fact that he was scowling and blushing at the same time gave Bruce an inkling as to who Peter was furiously texting.

“Hey Pete.”

Peter jerked and looked up with a deer in the headlights expression. He blushed even deeper and hurriedly stored his phone back in his pocket.

“Hey Dr. B, you ready to science?”

Bruce huffed a laugh as he took his seat.

“Y’know you and your father are the only people I’ve ever heard use science as a verb.”

Peter grinned.

“We’re hoping it’ll catch on.”

Bruce shook his head fondly.

“So what are we working on today?”

Peter as predicted immediately launched into a detailed and yet meandering explanation. Bruce listened at first but his mind started to wander again and all his doubts were piling up. Realistically he knew he had nothing to worry about but his brain wouldn’t listen to common sense. He snapped back though when he realized that Peter had stopped talking. The boy was looking at him in confusion.

“Why do you look so sad?”

Bruce was startled.

“What?”

Peter shrugged.

“I dunno, you just looked like you were thinking about something sad. Are you okay?”

Bruce gave the boy a small smile.

“I’m fine, I just…”

He trailed off trying to figure out what he should, or could, say.

“It’s just that something was being organized and now I’m worried that the other party has backed out. It’s probably fine I just tend to catastrophize.”

Peter nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah! Dad always says the bigger the brain the bigger the enemy.”

Bruce smiled.

“Your dad’s a smart man.”

Peter snorted.

“Like he needs anyone else telling him that.”

Bruce couldn’t help himself, he laughed. When he looked back at Peter he found him grinning and looking proud of himself. Bruce shook his head and tapped the textbook on the table.

“Come on, let’s get back to work.”

Peter eagerly resumed his explanations and this time Bruce made himself focus. He barely noticed the time passing but suddenly Vision was tapping him on the shoulder and asking if he could take his break. Bruce winced when he realized he’d gone over time and headed towards the counter. He told Vision he could have called him on it sooner but Vision just shrugged.

“You looked happier than you have been recently.”

Bruce stood at the counter slightly stunned as Vision took his break. He shook himself out of it and made his way over to the till as a customer came in. He smiled, made his order and passed it on to the customer. He was apparently more obvious than he thought he was if both Peter and Vision had noticed. He gave himself a stern mental talking to. No more doubts or pity. He was a grown man and could handle disappointment. If Tony decided not to go through with the date then there was nothing he could do about it, but he could just as easily bring it up again once work had died down. Bruce nodded. There, it was out of his head now.  


Bruce was working a double shift that day so after he waved Peter off he still had a few hours to go. And he definitely hadn’t signed up for a double shift just to distract himself. Definitely not. Much. It was night by the time he clocked off and handed the shop over to Thor and Loki. Thor smiled and greeted him loudly while Loki refused to look up from his phone. Bruce left and turned his collar up against the cold. They had been informed that they were to come in early the next day to put Halloween decor up. Bruce was trying not to think of the pumpkin spice stampede that would ensue. He had only taken two steps when a sleek town car pulled up to the curb. He kept walking as it didn’t occur to him that it might have anything to do with him. He heard a window wind down behind him and a familiar voice called out.

“Excuse me but have you seen an extremely attractive barista anywhere?”

Baffled Bruce whirled around and saw Tony’s head leaning out a window in the back of the car. He stood gaping and Tony raised his eyebrows.

“Not that I’m not used to people being stunned by me, but I do prefer you talking Bruce.”

Bruce shook himself mentally and walked towards the car.

“What are you doing here Tony? Isn’t the company, and I quote, ‘in a shit storm without me’?”

Tony waved a hand in dismissal.

“I may have exaggerated. Pepper’s the CEO and she runs the day to day better than I ever could. Are you hungry?”

“What?”

“I thought we could grab something? If one more person came up to me in fear or demanding answers I was going to jump out a window so I escaped. How do you feel about chinese? I haven’t had any in a while and we can get some as long as you don’t tell Peter.”

Bruce wondered if it was possible to get whiplash from a conversation.

“I have no idea what’s happening right now.”

“Well as far as I’m concerned you were about to get in the car so we could get chinese food.”

Tony smiled charmingly and Bruce laughed helplessly. Tony ducked his head and Bruce could hear him talking to someone.

“Happy come on, are you going to make Bruce get the door himself or what?”

Suddenly the drivers door opened and a man got out. He was rolling his eyes but smiled cheerfully as he walked past Bruce and opened the back door. Bruce tried to apologize.

“I’m sorry, you didn’t have to-”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s my job. And can I say it’s a pleasure to finally meet you Dr. Banner, Peter speaks very highly of you. And very frequently.”

Bruce blushed as he started to get in the car.

“Uh, um thanks. And it’s just Bruce.”

“Sure thing Dr. Banner.”

Door firmly closed, Bruce turned his attention to Tony who was currently scrolling through his phone.

“So have you decided on what you want to eat?”

Bruce was currently trying to convince himself that this wasn’t a particularly lucid hallucination.

“Uh sure, chinese sounds good.”

There must have been something in his voice because Tony put his phone down and turned his attention to Bruce.

“Are you okay with going for food?”

Bruce nodded.

“Sure, of course.”

“That’s good. Sorry I’ve been so caught up with work, didn’t want you to think that I’d forgotten about our date.”

“It’s fine, I knew you were busy.”

“So do you actually want chinese food or were you just agreeing to appease me?”

Bruce let out a laugh and Tony grinned at him.

“No chinese food really is fine with me.”

“Excellent.”

Tony called out.

“Happy take us to wherever the best chinese food is.”

“On it boss.”

Tony picked up Bruce’s hand from where it was resting on the seat and pressed a kiss to the knuckles. He had to turn his attention back to his phone with a scowl when it started beeping but he still kept a hold of Bruce’s hand. Bruce looked out the window and smiled to himself.  
He was really looking forward to some chinese food.


End file.
